Years before Kai Sotto became the first Filipino in the National Basketball League, there were already a number of Asians Down Under. Iranian center Hamed Haddadi and point guard Mehdi Kamrani, Jordan’s Zaid Abbas and the now retired Sam Daghles, and Palestine Sani Sakakini have all played over three years each in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) since 2009. Changing jerseysīasketball stars from Asian rivals have been fixtures in various leagues outside of their home countries.
League and the Korean Basketball League (KBL).įor a country that has long been appreciated for its deep well of highly skilled basketball players, the Philippines has actually been late in the ball game in exporting talents to bigger markets. This progress is manifested in the fact that Filipino players are sought after today as reinforcements not only in regional leagues in Southeast Asia but also in the top leagues in the whole of Asia like the Japan B.
The country has made some progress since then.” “In 1990, we learned the hard way that we were no longer the dominant force in Asian basketball. “It is an acknowledgment of the talent that Filipino players have,” he said. Velasco sees this as an affirmation of the quality of players that the country has been producing. “It is only being noticed now because the basketball players involved are more well-known.” “It has been happening in other sports like rugby and billiards, and is starting to happen in women’s volleyball,” he said. Velasco noted that other sports had its own share of Filipino imports as well. Filipinos have been an integral part of the development of commercial basketball throughout Asia and the Middle East.” “The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) has had at least three Filipinos on every team. Indonesia has had Filipino imports in its commercial leagues for over 20 years,” said Velasco. “Filipinos have been playing overseas for decades, just as Filipino coaches have been working overseas, as well. Sports broadcast journalist and documentary film producer Bill Velasco said what is happening is actually not a recent trend.
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This year, over 20 Filipinos will suit up for teams in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.īut there also have been resistance emanating from officials and supporters of the PBA who, admit it or not, see this migration of players as a threat to the very existence of the oldest and most enduring professional league this side of the world. The following season, his older brother Kiefer, Ray Parks, Dwight Ramos, Kobe Paras, Matthew Aquino, Kemark Cariño, and brothers Juan and Javi Gomez de Liaño joined the B. Ravena’s entry to Japan in the 2020-2021 season ushered in a spate of Filipino players signing with ballclubs abroad. This seemed to be the only option available for a local player. This was the natural progression for any Filipino who aspired to make a career out of the country’s most popular sport. League, then get drafted to Asia’s first play-for-pay professional league, the PBA. Up until a few years ago, the ultimate dream of a young Filipino basketball player was to get into a collegiate varsity, graduate to the D. His first season with the San-En NeoPhoenix attracted massive media coverage, and Filipino fans were able to keep tabs of his exploits with San-En’s games being shown online and on TV.
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Back then, the development hardly created ripples in the local basketball scene and was not deemed as a trailblazing moment that could open doors for other local players to get recruited by pro teams abroad.įast forward to over 30 years later when Thirdy Ravena became an Asian import in the Japan B. Marata’s stint with the Vancouver Nighthawks, although reported by news outlets in the country, was not widely chronicled by local media and Filipino fans. Some of the notable names who saw action in that North American league were former New York Knicks star John Starks and several outstanding PBA imports like Sean Chambers, Jamie Waller, Vincent Askew, Willie Bland, and Jose Slaughter. Jojo Lastimosa also received a contract but passed up on the opportunity to play in the WBL, a minor professional league in the United States and Canada that imposed a height restriction of 6-foot-5, which was eventually raised to 6-foot-7. MANILA, Philippines – In the late 1980s, Cebuano dynamo Ric-Ric Marata was signed by the Vancouver Nighthawks, a team in the World Basketball League (WBL).
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