Kiefer Ravena will not be in the Philippine Basketball Association for the foreseeable future.
With NLEX and Ravena not being able to find a middle ground regarding how he can still play for both the Road Warriors and Shiga, the 6-foot combo guard is now free to re-sign with the Lakes for the 2022-23 B.League season.
None other than PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said that neither Ravena nor NLEX will be sanctioned if the player indeed returns to Shiga.
“Balewala na yun sa tingin ko,” he told Kom. Noli Eala during Saturday’s episode of Radyo5’s Power & Play.
“Kelangan nakabalik na siya ng October pero maglalaro na siya sa Japan ng August. Kaya matic na yun, babalik na siya ng after three years.”
Ravena, who returned to the country after his first year with Shiga, had offered to play one conference per year for NLEX but the Road Warriors countered his proposal by saying that he should play a full season before he can go back to the B.League.
Ravena ended up playing for Gilas while NLEX went on to play without him in the ongoing Philippine Cup.
The 28-year-old guard out of Ateneo was let go from his deal with NLEX last year which paved the way for him to sign with Shiga.
During his first year with Shiga, Ravena averaged 13.16 points, 5.84 assists, 2.41 rebounds, and 1.48 steals in 56 games played.
But once Ravena re-signs with Shiga, he won’t be able to return to the PBA until 2025.
With him playing overseas for a second straight year, it will trigger the new PBA ruling that states that the player must sit out a full three years before being able to return to the league.
“Mag-two years na siya sa October. If hindi siya makakabalik ng two years, three years sit out na siya,” explained Marcial.
Ravena and Marcial will have a talk regarding this once Gilas’ practices for the fourth window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers begins.
