By JONAS TERRADO
Basketball fans won’t be seeing the likes of Justin Brownlee, Allen Durham, Terrence Jones and Chris McCullough at least until next year after the PBA ruled out the possibility of bringing in imports in the event that the 45th season is salvaged.
PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial mentioned plenty of factors that will be played out, namely the import’s willingness to come here coupled with the mandatory 14-day quarantine period to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The league also stressed that it will likely resume with a one-conference season, particularly the Philippine Cup which was halted after the San Miguel Beer-Magnolia match last March 8 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Pag nagsimula to within this year, All-Filipino tayo. Yun ang logical na dapat gawin natin at palagay ko papayag mga (PBA Team Governors),” Marcial said in Tuesday’s online session of the PSA Forum.
“Mahihirapan (kasi) baka yung mga imports di magpuntahan o tayo ba lalaro sa kanila so dami e, hangga’t walang vaccine at zero COVID.”
The PBA traditionally holds two import-laden competitions in a season, namely the Commissioner’s Cup and the Governors’ Cup.
Under current rules, players 6-foot-10 and under are allowed to suit up in the Commissioner’s Cup while teams can field imports up to 6-foot-5 in the Governors’ Cup.
There were cases in the past were the league was forced to allow one import-laden conference, namely in 1984 due to the country’s economic crisis.
Import tournaments were held during the Fiesta Conference when the PBA staged a two-conference season from 2004 to 2010.
