No PBA Opening This Month

It's no longer a question of whether or not the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will open its 46th season this month. It's now the question of when.

The league is supposed to begin on April 9. Then, it was moved to April 11 and then later, to April 18. Now, an April opening of the Philippine Cup is off the table.

"April is off," Those are the words of PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial.

He added, "I need to give teams and their players, say two to three weeks before we even begin the season,"

The national government placed Metro Manila and four other provinces under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) due to the spike of new 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) cases. In effect, the league employed a "wait and see" approach to the situation before deciding how they would move forward with the season's opener.

That was before the government extended the imposition of the ECQ for another week over the weekend.

The PBA remains open on the idea of staging a bubble conference as they did in Clark last year. However, they are also hoping to avoid a repeat of the Clark bubble, not just because of the financial difficulties, but more importantly, because of the mental strain players and staff endured inside the Clark bubble in 2020.

If the PBA is to start beyond May, it will jeopardize their plans to stage two conferences for 2021. If things go that direction, then we might see a one-conference season anew.

“Remember how we had to settle for an August opening last year? That became September, and then ultimately, October. We also hoped for two conferences, which became one,” Marcial reminded.

"But seriously, we can no longer do it this month," he concluded.

Photo is from Daily Advent