MANILA – After the ongoing 2021 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup in Bacolor, Pampanga, the league is looking to conduct a second conference which will feature imports later this year.
According to Commissioner Willie Marcial, the PBA is still waiting for the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases for the season-ending tournament tentatively slated for mid-November.
“The PBA is exploring the option of bringing in imports for the second conference, which is eyed for mid-November, but it will depend on the go-signal of government agencies,” Marcial said.
“Nothing is final yet on whether the second conference will have imports as the PBA is also checking with team officials if they’re agreeable to recruiting reinforcements,” he added.
If IATF-EID and the PBA teams agree to have imports in the second conference, Marcial said the foreign player limit will be set at 6-foot-6 and they should be fully vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019.
Under the limit, previous imports Justin Brownlee of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, Allen Durham of Meralco Bolts, Eugene Phelps of Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters, KJ McDaniels of TNT Tropang Giga are eligible to see action.
The PBA didn’t hold an import-laced tournament last season when it managed to stage just the all-Filipino conference in a bubble setup at Angeles University Foundation Gym in Clark, Pampanga.
Barangay Ginebra was the last team to win a conference featuring foreign players as Brownlee led the Kings to 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup trophy against Durham and the Bolts.
Marcial also said there will be a tweak in the length of the quarterfinals and semifinals series but the championship series for the import-laden conference will remain best-of-seven.
Marcial further said that, if ever the quarantine classification will be downgraded further in the National Capital Region, the games could be held in the Metro Manila venues./PN
