PHILIPPINE Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Willie Marcial said the league is starting to forge closer ties with the different basketball leagues in Asia, especially the B.League and the Korean Basketball League (KBL).
Marcial revealed that he has gotten correspondences from the aforementioned leagues. The B.League has extended an invitation for him to attend the B.League All-Star Game in January 2022, while the KBL has sought a meeting with him.
“The KBL commissioner wrote, and wanted to meet with us. The B.League, who’ll be holding their All-Star, also invited me to go to Japan,” shared Marcial during his appearance on the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Nov. 9.
These developments, along with the PBA’s partnership with the East Asia Basketball League, is a welcome sight, not just for the country’s basketball scene, but also for the Asian landscape in general as it opens up more avenues for Filipino basketball players.
This comes on the heels of several Filipinos heading to Japan and Taiwan to play for different teams. Some of these players include PBA superstars Kiefer Ravena and Bobby Ray Parks and amateur standouts Dwight Ramos and Kobe Paras.
“As you can see, there have been talks between the leagues. Korea wants to talk with us. We’ve been invited by the league in Japan. This is the beginning of a fruitful relationship among basketball leagues in Asia,” Marcial expressed in Filipino.
PBA chairman Ricky Vargas added that having close ties with other Asian leagues would help smoothen the player movement process.
“When we do have stronger ties, we will be able to see to it that we respect each other’s rights in terms of movement of players. We will have better cooperation,” said Vargas.