Philippine men’s 3×3 finds itself without a home following the shocking suspension of the remaining men’s halfcourt league in the country.
After months of contemplation, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has decided to pause operations of its 3×3 competitions indefinitely – indeed a tough blow to a program long hounded by stability issues.
This comes in the wake of Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3, the pioneering domestic 3×3 league that opened shop in 2019, also disbanding its program at the close of the 2023 season last November.
Chooks was home to the last two no. 1 3×3 players in the country, Joshua Munzon and Mac Tallo.
Chooks 3×3 actively hosted high-level FIBA 3×3 tournaments, the last of which was the World Tour Cebu Masters back in September 2023.
Meanwhile, since its inception in November 2021, PBA 3×3 not only became an avenue for players to either revive or build their careers, but also served as the lifeblood of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ (SBP) Gilas Men 3×3.
Some of the league’s best – including Almond Vosotros and his TNT Triple Giga, Joseph Eriobu, Brandon Rosser, and Jorey Napoles, to name a few – have been called up and served tours of duty with the national team.
The aforementioned were part of Gilas Men 3×3 teams that secured podium finishes in the last two editions of the Southeast Asian Games.
(C) FIBA.basketball
The Triple Giga were mainly the country’s representatives in FIBA 3×3 national team events.
Since the Grand Finals of the 2023–24 PBA 3×3 Third Conference, 75-percent of the teams have opted not to renew the contracts of their players, the majority of whom are now playing in the MPBL.
Only TNT, Meralco, and NLEX have their 3×3 players still under contract.
But now, PBA 3×3 is feared to be shelved for good, which also means that the country may not see any men’s 3-a-side league anytime soon.
The country garnered enough points to qualify for the 2021 FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournaments – the farthest the program has ever reached – thanks to Chooks, who was also a global partner of FIBA 3×3.
During the last Olympic cycle, Chooks 3×3 and PBA 3×3 existed as separate entities, but that hardly helped the country’s 3×3 cause.
The former ceased operations of its domestic league to focus on the international pro scene while the latter struggled to garner any points during its events.
To put matters in perspective, PBA 3×3 was only a FIBA 3×3 Level 4 tournament since its inception. Chooks 3×3, on the other hand, was a Level 7 event. Bigger points are accumulated by higher-level tournaments.
The Philippines ranked outside of the Top 30 in this Olympic cycle and failed to qualify for the OQT.
Now, though, both leagues are absent, and that’s why the SBP has been searching for solutions to address the program’s problems.
One of which, per sources, is looking for potential backers like what Uratex does for Gilas Women 3×3, a partnership announced just last May 10.
Chooks may be out of the picture; however, with sports patron Ronald Mascarinas set to retire from his post as president next month.
It’s uncertain if the one taking his place would be open to the company returning to 3×3.
