MANILA – Former NBA center Dwight Howard, who is set to suit up for Strong Group-Philippines team, believes he is eligible to play as reinforcement in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
In a social media post over the weekend, the one-time NBA champion said he stands 6-foot-9 when measured without shoes and is within the height limit of the 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“Real ones know I’m 6’9 and still was dominant at center against them 7 footers,” wrote Howard on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
Jacob Lao, son of the owner of Strong Group-Philippines and current team manager of Converge FiberXers in the PBA, said the eight-time NBA All-Star playing in the PBA is not impossible.
“We’ll see,” Lao said in a recent interview with Spin.ph. “But if the PBA will allow us to bring in a 6’10” import like Dwight Howard, why not?”
“We are seriously considering that. Why? Kasi yung 6’10 height ni Dwight is measured with shoes. PBA is measuring players without shoes. So we’ll see,” he added.
Lao, however, said that another issue that they may face in the PBA, assuming they decide to bring in Howard, is the salary cap for PBA imports, which the league set at US$20,000 a month.
“Yun pa ho ang isa. Pero madali naman naming magawan ng paraan yang salary kasi we can offer other packages for Dwight,” said Lao.
Howard has arrived in the country on Sunday night as he is set to compete for Strong Group-Philippines team in the Dubai International Basketball Championship slated later this month.
Aside from Howard, also in the Strong Group roster are Andray Blatche, McKenzie Moore, Andre Roberson, Kevin Quiambao, Francis Escandor, JD Cagulangan, Allen Liwag, Winston Ynot, and Justine Sanchez./PN
