By REYNALD MAGALLON
It seems like the Bay Area Dragons are no longer coming back to the PBA.
That, after the East Asia Super League reportedly disbanded the team just weeks after it announced its supposed participation in the upcoming PBA Commissioner’s Cup and signing new players to boost an already formidable squad.
According to a report from China Morning Post, the decision was abrupt and was related to the people involved during an online meeting on Friday. Sept. 1.
Players and staff, which already began practice in preparation for the PBA season, were also left stunned by the decision as EASL also terminated all of their contracts and ‘compensations will not be paid’ according to the same report.
The Dragons actually added few more talents in Ramon Cao, Seva Chan, Adli Kuerban, and Oliver Xu to add to the core of Zhu Songwei, Liu Chuanxing, Kobey Lam, Glenn Yang and Hayden Blankley that finished third in the Champions Week last March and runners-up to Barangay Ginebra in last season’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
According to the report, financial problems prompted EASL to pull the plug on the team as it went all out in supporting the crew with big investments like tapping NBA caliber players Andrew Nicholson and Myles Powell despite the cancellation of the home-and-away season last year.
Moreover, the team also stayed in the luxurious Shangri-La Hotel in BGC for the whole duration of its PBA stint last year
Bay Area and EASL have yet to make a formal statement regarding the matter but big announcements are expected to be relayed in the coming days.
