As the PBA nears its golden anniversary, its leaders are already laying down the groundwork for the league’s next 50 years.
As Asia’s first-ever professional basketball league, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has had a head start in the region in terms of establishing its footprint and paving the way for the development of the sport in the world’s largest continent.
But as the PBA prepares for its 50th anniversary on April 9, it finds itself facing an Asian basketball landscape that is very different from what its founders saw in 1975. For one, the PBA is no longer the only show in town. Rival Asian leagues have come on strong as alternative landing places for top Filipino talent. For another, compared to the youth of the 1970s, Gen. Z has several other forms of media battling for its attention span.
The Asian Challenge
Yet for all is imperfections and challenges both internal and external, the PBA is still the top basketball league in the Philippines, and remains one of the top ones in the continent. A welcome reminder of that came in October 2023 when a league-backed Gilas Pilipinas team brought home the country’s first Asian Games gold medal in 61 years.
“There is only one tournament that says that confirms we are the best,” said PBA chairman Ricky Vargas during the unveiling of the league’s 50th anniversary logo. “And that’s the Asian Games, right? So, we’ve gotten that back during the last Asian Games and we intend to keep that. So, that is a medal in our chest that we are the best in Asia in terms of basketball.”
The PBA board, though, recognizes that they are no longer alone, and there is a need to work with other leagues.
“Now, we recognize that we are not the only ones in Asia but we can still be the best entertainment basketball in Asia. So, that’s our vision. Today, we have leagues in Japan. We have leagues in Korea. We have leagues in Taipei. And all these leagues, our commissioner has started a collaboration with them to be able to bring the best of Asia in basketball.
“And in order for us to stay the best, we have to lead Asia not only in basketball but in organizing Asia. So, that is very important for us because we are the seat of basketball.
“When you talk about collaboration, you have to play with Asia. And the PBA has played with Asia. The PBA is in EASL. We are going to have games with the B.league of Japan. And SBP is now also very much involved in Taiwan. So, with the SBP and the PBA we will stay the best in Asia.
“But we have to excel. We cannot be the best if we do not excel. And if we do all that, we will remain the best in Asia but not only the best in Asia. Maybe, just maybe, we will be recognized even in the world.”
The PBA at Home
Looking inwardly, the start of the PBA’s next 50 years will see the league restrengthening its connection with its core audience and tapping its younger segment.
“We are going to reach out to the community. We are going to reach out to the basketball fans and we will redefine our relationship with basketball fans and we will redefine our teams’ relationship with the public.
“Our first question, is what do we want to do in the next 50 years? So we said, ‘Why don’t we relaunch the PBA?’ What will the PBA be? Who is the PBA? What do we envision the next 50 years to be? More of the same or something new that only the Filipinos can enjoy because we believe that we are a Filipino basketball organization.”
In the end, the Board of Governors arrived at a shared vision.
“This is our vision: we’d like the PBA to be the number one basketball entertainment league in Asia. If you noticed, in the last conference, we started changing our view of what the game is and in today’s board meeting we were saying what are the benefits of those changes?”
Among those changes was the controversial introduction of the four-point shot which, according to Vargas, has caught the attention of the rest of the basketball world. “They’ve been asking us for our statistics on the four-point shot,” he revealed.
In recent years, interest in the league among young adults has somewhat declined. To reach out to and enlighten Gen. Z about its glorious past, the league will showcase its top 50 moments.
“We’re going to have a countdown of the 100 days to (the 50th season opening on Oct. 5 at the) Smart Araneta Coliseum,” Vargas revealed. “We will document the 50 most memorable PBA moments.
“Bakit importante yun? When you document history it makes the future stronger so that’s what we’re going to try to do. If we can document and make the Gen. Z, the young people understand what the PBA is and its history then maybe we will have better connectivity with (them).
“So we’re here to keep basketball alive not only for the Philippines. I am I told I’m the chef de mission for the (2028 Los Angeles) Olympics. I’d like to bring (Philippine) basketball to the Olympics.”
Banner Images from the PBA Media Bureau.