Philippine Basketball Association chairman Ricky Vargas can’t wait for the league to resume on February 11.
After all, it seems that the ongoing pandemic is starting to settle down which will lead to normalcy, eventually.
“Every time we begin playing, I get so excited and very happy,” said the former Philippine Olympic Committee chief.
“It’s been two years going through this whole process.”
There have been a lot of challenges the league had faced over the past couple of years.
Play had been on and off due to quarantine restrictions while teams have suffered losses due to low sales outside of basketball.
Another crisis the league faced was the exodus of young prospects to the B.League and, later on, T1.
“We’ve had so many issues, losing players to other leagues and going through that whole process,” lamented Vargas.
Vargas cited that with Dwight Ramos coming home today, it’s a sign that the players are starting to realize how hard it is to work abroad.
Ramos is just coming back home for the first window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and will immediately head back to Japan afterward.
“Sa tingin ko, na gumaganda na kasi Dwight coming back is a good sign. They are now beginning to realize that all is not nice playing overseas,” beamed Vargas.
Another player who is coming home is free agent Juan Gomez de Liano. Gomez de Liano, who was released by Tokyo Z a month ago, was not able to secure a deal from other B.League teams. The signing window for Division I teams closed last January 31.
Vargas also added that both Gomez de Liano and Kobe Paras sent feelers that they are planning to enter the upcoming draft.
(C) B.League
“Paras… Gomez de Liano is coming back. There are feelers that they want to come back in the PBA and also play for Gilas.”
And with the league slowly recovering, Vargas believes that the rest will follow.
“If we continue to allow basketball to be played in the Philippines and we start opening up our economy, there is a great chance we can get our people back and invite more to play in the PBA. We are very positive about it.”
