By Nick Giongco
Basketball great Ramon Fernandez is backing the plans of newly-appointed Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Willie Marcial to bring back the glory days of the league by going retro.
“That’s a great idea,” said Fernandez, now a commisisoner in the Philippine Sports Commission.
Marcial had floated the idea of having some teams wear replicas of their old jerseys just like what’s been happening the past several years in the NBA.
Fernandez, 64, league MVP four times, likewise welcomes Marcial’s project of staging side events like a 3-on-3 featuring some of the PBA’s head-turners.
A participant in the novel 1-on-1 event in 1979 against Philip Cezar, Fernandez feels that the best way for the PBA to catch the fancy of cage fans is for it to be participated in by the league’s marquee names.
“They should get the players who will draw the crowd,” said Fernandez, who dropped a heartbreaking loss to Cezar during their fancied clash four decades ago.
The PBA has a bevy of talent who thrive in one-on-one plays and among those who have what it takes to shine in the proposed side event include Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Stanley Pringle, Sol Mercado.
