By JONAS TERRADO
The PBA is eyeing a vibrant staging of the 47th season which starts on Sunday, June 5 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the pressing issue surrounding players taking their talents overseas.
A doubleheader will usher in the latest chapter of the PBA’s storied history with newcomer Converge facing Rain or Shine at 4:30 p.m. and TNT starting its Philippine Cup title defense opposite Magnolia Chicken Timplados at 6:30 p.m.
As officials prepare for the new season, the league continues to tackle arguably its biggest concern with cagers from the amateur ranks and even those with current PBA pacts entertaining thoughts of playing abroad, particularly in Japan’s B.League.
PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas didn’t hold back regarding what he described as “poaching” of players that resulted in the likes of Thirdy and Kiefer Ravena, Dwight Ramos and Justin Baltazar signing for Japanese clubs in a space of two years.
“Poaching has been very serious,” Vargas said Monday when the league held a press conference at Conrad Manila in Pasay City.
“As you know, we have lost some very good players who did not join the draft or who has been in the draft and left the PBA. That’s been very serious. All we’re asking for is not to poach but to be very professional about this whole process.
“And I guess it takes a lot from the players to be professional about it, and from those poaching them to be professional about it, and from the agents that poached them to be very professional about it.”
The league has since implemented policies that give players who signed for foreign teams a grace period to join the draft or otherwise sit out a maximum of five years.
One former B.League player who was allowed to join the draft was Javi Gomez de Liano, taken eighth overall by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel before being dealt to Terrafirma.
Kiefer Ravena, meanwhile, has sent a written letter asking if he could play for one conference with NLEX in the Philippine Cup before heading back to Japan to sign a new deal with the Shiga Lakestars.
Commissioner Willie Marcial said Ravena’s situation will depend on talks with Road Warriors management.
The league is also hoping that agreements can be reached not only with the B.League but South Korea’s Korean Basketball League, which is also set to allow its teams to sign Filipino players.
“Ang gusto ko sana mangyari, let’s settle the Japan league, and whatever agreements we have there, that could also be used by the KBL,” Vargas said. “That could be the standard. It’s getting the first agreement out that is a little difficult. Parang nanganganak e, diba. It takes some time.”
