San Miguel switched imports ahead of its PBA Season 48 debut.
As reported by the league’s website Monday, the Beermen have brought in Ivan Aska to replace original choice Tyler Stone for the Commissioner’s Cup.
Stone’s wife is set to give birth this weekend in the US.
“Manganganak ‘yung asawa niya kasi, and ayaw din naman namin na maglalaro siya dito pero ‘yung isip niya nasa pamilya niya. So naintindihan naman namin,” SMB team governor Robert Non told PBA.ph.
Listed at 6-foot-8, the 33-year-old out of Murray State is already in town and is just finishing submitting the needed documents in order to play.
A pro since 2012, Aska has had stops in Belgium, Puerto Rico, Israel, Greece, France, Macedonia, Hungary, Uruguay, South Korea, and Mexico.
He’s coming off a stint with Soles de Mexicali of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, Mexico’s top-flight basketball league.
Aska is also rich in FIBA experience, having represented the Virgin Islands men’s team which saw him win two FIBA CBC Championship (CaribeBasket) gold medals. That includes the 2015 edition in which he was also named MVP.
Aska most recently played for the Virgin Islands in the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Pre-Qualifiers last June, where he finished as the team’s leading scorer with per-game averages of 16.3 points and 7.0 rebounds.
San Miguel will make their season debut on November 15 against Thomas Robinson and NLEX at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
