A 3X3 League in the PBA: Why It is Good?

If you look back at the performances of all of our basketball teams who participated in the 30th SEA Games which was held here in the country, there was one word to describe how they all performed: dominant.

Of course, we all loved how the Tim Cone-coached Gilas Pilipinas stomped their way towards another gold medal finish which was one of the highlights of the Philippines' best finish in the SEA Games in years where we topped the medal count. Then, there was our women's basketball team who also finished the tournament unbeaten en route to their first gold medal finish. Alas, our 3x3 team, bannered by CJ Perez, Jason Perkins, Chris Newsome, and Moala Tautuaa, swept the 3x3 tournament to finish with yet another gold medal for the country. Basketball fans were happy during the SEA Games.

And now, the PBA, whose 45th season will open on March  1, 2020, has announced that it will have its stand-alone 3x3 league where all 12 PBA franchises will be participating. While the details of the said league are being mapped up by the league officials, this move by the PBA is a good one for two reasons.

First, the said 3x3 league which will be run under an executive director who will be supervised by the PBA commissioner, will be open to PBA players who are not included in the active list of their respective teams. In other words, more opportunities for seldom-fielded players which will give these players more exposure.

More importantly,  PBA's upcoming 3x3 league will also help the SBP in terms of having more players to choose from when they assemble the national team for the tournaments that they will be joining- the Summer Games in Tokyo perhaps? As a matter of fact, the Philippines can compete in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament where our 3x3 players can get a rare opportunity to represent the Filipinos in the Olympics. And that alone could be a big boost not just for the 3x3 Philippine team but, for the Philippine basketball as a whole. 

Photo is from ABS CBN News