MANILA – The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is looking to follow the National Basketball Association (NBA) model of creating a “bubble” for the resumption of the 2020 Philippine Cup.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said that the league has drawn attention from a number of prospective bubble tournament hosts, including the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, which has hosted official PBA games before.
“They have communicated with us and they’re asking for the requirements,” said Marcial, referring to Mark Jan Kar, Commercial Director of Coca Cola Arena.
PBA chairman Ricardo Vargas, for his part, said that the league is now looking at possible bubble sites like the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in Cubao in Quezon City, Clark in Pampanga, and the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna.
“The planned bubble will be discussed at length during the league’s board meeting this week,” Vargas said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) online Forum on Tuesday.
“My own feeling as part of the board as chairman is we don’t have a choice. May model na eh. The model is the NBA and we should just go ahead and move forward and look forward to the time na maglalaro tayo,” he added.
The PBA chairman also said that he had already spoken to some PBA board members and they, too, agree that the bubble concept should be seriously taken into consideration.
“They are also as excited. In fact, we are talking about several options in terms of following the bubble,” Vargas said. “The question is, meron bang lugar sa Pilipinas na puwede tayong mag-bubble kasi wala namang Disneyland.”/PN
