Tomorrow marks the beginning of a landmark event for the B.League as Japan’s top-tier professional basketball league stages the two-day B.League Manila Games 2026 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena — the league’s first-ever overseas games.
Bannering the preseason exhibition are Levanga Hokkaido, featuring Dwight Ramos, and the Gunma Crane Thunders, with AJ Edu. Both Philippine national team stars will headline the event, which coincides with the 70th anniversary of Japan-Philippines diplomatic relations.
“The Philippines is one of our most important markets. This season, the B.League has seven Filipino players. On top of that, we have four players so far in Division 2,” said B.League Executive Officer Nao Okamoto.
Ramos is about to enter his sixth season in the B.League and his fifth straight with Hokkaido, having spent his entire professional career in Japan thus far. Levanga finished fifth in the East Division last season.
Now, Ramos and Edu will get the opportunity to finally play professional basketball in the Philippines while representing their respective B.League squads.
“I think that everybody knows that the Philippines has a lot of basketball fans; it’s our main sport, so they already knew that coming in. But I’m just excited to see how many people come out and show them the Filipino spirit of basketball,” Ramos said.
For Edu, the event carries even more significance as he gets to showcase his professional talents for the first time in front of his family at home.
Entering his fourth B.League season and his second straight with the Crane Thunders, the 26-year-old big man hopes to kickstart his bounce-back year after playing just one game last season due to injury.
“It really feels pretty surreal. Feels kind of like two worlds colliding, having the Japanese Gunma team here now. I’m really excited just for this whole experience and showcase, and I’m glad my whole team and organization gets to experience the Philippines,” Edu shared.
“It’s just the privilege of kinda playing in front of my family, especially on my mom’s side. Being here in the Philippines, they always support me, watching me on YouTube and on TV. But for them to see this side of my basketball life is a huge blessing.”
Both head coaches, Kyle Milling and Torsten Loibl, joked that they wouldn’t be playing Ramos and Edu for over 37 minutes like they recently did for the national team.
Meanwhile, Gunma shooting guard Naoto Tsuji, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Tuesday, received a surprise from Edu and his teammates during their pregame practice.
“This is my first time being here, so I’m excited to play here. I hope everyone can come here to watch; we’ll try our best to play hard. It’s my birthday today, so it’s really good, and I wanna use this opportunity to [celebrate] with my team. Salamat po,” he said.
The B.League Manila Games 2026 will be held on September 9 and 10 at the Pasay venue.
