THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) intends to hold only two conferences—Philippine Cup and Governors Cup—covering a 10-month period for its 46th season.
Also, the PBA opted to forego with the bubble in favor of a closed-circuit home-venue-home setup in a still to be determined venue in Metro Manila.
The league set an April 11 opening for the Philippine Cup and the Governors’s Cup will feature the usual 6-foot-5 ceiling for imports. The Commissioner’s Cup was dropped for the season.
“We are already asking permission from the government to allow us to hold the games in the National Capital Region for the next season,” said PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas of TNT Tropang Giga, who presided over the league board’s online meeting on Tuesday with Commissioner Willie Marcial, vice chairman Bobby Rosales (Terrafirma), treasurer Dickie Bachmann (Alaska) and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Al Panlilio (Meralco).
The PBA, Vargas said, will also open its inaugural 3×3 tournament composed of 16 teams on April 11.
Marcial said options are open to allow fans to watch the Governors’s Cup games live depending on the progress against Covid-19 pandemic.
Panlilio, meanwhile, said the federation will form an all-cadet national team for the International Basketball Federation Asia Cup Qualifiers in Clark, Pampanga, in June and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Serbia set from June 29 to July 4.