The Philippine Basketball Association will make adjustments to its schedule to give way to Gilas Pilipinas’ preparations for the third window of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers and the 20th Asian Games.
After the 2026 Commissioner’s Cup, the league will pull out all Gilas pool members from their mother clubs, along with head coach Tim Cone, so they can focus fully on both tournaments.
The Philippines is set to face New Zealand on July 3 and Australia on July 6 — both on the road.
The national team will also defend its Asian Games crown from September 19 to October 4 in Aichi, Japan.
Commissioner Willie Marcial revealed on Friday that instead of starting the Governors’ Cup, the league is planning on staging an invitational tournament featuring all 12 PBA teams while also inviting two foreign clubs.
“So pasimula dun sa window (qualifier), maglalaro sila sa New Zealand and Australia. Tapos mga ilang araw, kaysa maglagay ako ng dalawang game days, ipapa-diretso ko na para sa Asian Games,” he explained on PBA.ph.
The break also presents an opportunity for the PBA to bring in foreign teams, with possible invitations extended to clubs from Japan’s B.League and Korea’s KBL, both of which will be on break at the time.
Other potential guest squads include Macau and Hong Kong Eastern.
Similar to what the Premier Volleyball League did during its Invitational Conference, the PBA is also considering adding prize money for the champion.
PLDT, for instance, received ₱1,000,000 for winning the PVL Invitationals.
“Hindi pa na desisyunan yan, pero baka lagyan natin ng prize money para maganda,” Marcial said.
