Talented ballers from different provinces throughout the country will have a chance to prove themselves when the National Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball League relaunch as professional tournaments.
League officials said this after the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) gave them the nod to take their cagefest to the next level.
The two tournaments will soon open once they are given the green light to do so by the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases.
NBL chairman Celso ‘Soy’ Mercado said that with the continuation of the tournament, the growth of basketball in the Philippines will go on for long period of time.
“Naniniwala ako na ito ay hindi simula lamang, kung hindi ay patuloy nating gagawin, upang bigyan ng pagkakataon ang lahat ng mga mahuhusay na manlalaro,” said Mercado, during an online press conference with executive vice president Rhose Montreal, commissioner Edward Aquino and GAB chairman Abraham Mitra.
Organizers of the NBL, which will start its fourth season, take pride in having put up the first men’s professional league that will cater to homegrown talents from the provinces, cities, and municipalities that they are representing.
It started back in 2018, with the Paranaque Aces and the Taguig Generals as the first champions.
And that’s from among the 14 teams that initially joined.
The WNBL is seen to become the first-ever women’s professional league to be set up in the country.
“Basketball is not just for males. The NBL is also advocating gender equality. Kung may panlalaki, meron ding pambabae,” said Mitra.