The inevitable has finally come to haunt the league after
years of desperately trying to keep it at the backburner. A foreigner has come
out of the woodwork, fanbase in tow, wanting to join the country’s premiere
basketball organization.
Should the PBA open its doors to foreigners? |
Kirk Long, the revered blonde shooting guard of the great
Ateneo de Manila University basketball program, is knocking on the PBA’s doors
in hopes of making it to next year’s draft. An ace defender and knockdown
shooter, Long belongs to a short list of “complete package” players much like
ADMU alumna and Talk ‘n’ Text “do it all sub” Larry Fonacier.
We’ve tackled this issue in 2010, and just like that unwanted
ex-girlfriend, it has come back to haunt us until someone finally grows a set
and turns it down or approves it (that’s you Mr. Commissioner and the rest of
the PBA board).
But what kind of basketbol-blogger would we be if we didn’t
come up with possible solutions that hopefully, would be read by the powers
that be and considered in the whole scheme of things (or not)? Here’s a short
list of what the PBA can do to protect itself from foreign applicants.
- Minimum of 8-years residency
-
Sounds just about right for guys like Kirk Long who has
played both high school and college ball in the country. This protects us from
all the other imports that college teams have been recruiting lately (hello San
Beda, UST, FEU) and builds familiarity with Filipino basketball fans and not
just those in Manila
alone.
-
It also protects schools and organization from wannabe
thugs and malcontents because they are developed by local establishments at an
early age instead of when they reach adulthood and just play for pay/ perks/ titles
(and trust me, there have been quite a lot of unreported cases going around).
- Maximum of 2 foreigners per team, but not on the floor together
-
And because we live in a league ruled by two opposing
superpowers and about two (or three) independent franchises, they’re bound to
bend the rules at some point so here’s our safety net. Maximum of two
foreigners per team, but they are not to play alongside each other (differing
from the MBA’s format wherein teams like the Laguna Lakers fielded in Chris
Clay and Jeff Flowers at the same time).
- All foreigners are to be drafted in the 2nd round
-
Maybe we should’ve started with this. To protect our
homegrown talent (even Fil-Ams), foreigners are to be drafted only from the
second round onwards. The playing time would probably differ once the season
starts, but priority should be given to Filipinos. This isn’t the NBA. This isn’t
the NATIONAL basketball association. It’s the PBA. P for Philippines .
Our boys like JVee Casio and Paul Lee should always come first. Keifer Ravena
should enjoy the greatness of being recognized as a possible number 1 draft.
Those are the 3 arguments that KKS has if the PBA should
consider a “foreign invasion.” Your thoughts?
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