PBA, Sokor, Aussie clubs mull super cage body

If exploratory talks among leaders of the Philippine Basketball Association and its counterparts in South Korea and Australia come to fruition, an Australasian basketball super league will be formed and probably open shop by September next year.

PBA commissioner Noli Eala divulged this to The STAR after discussing the idea with an official of the Korea basketball league who has just visited the country with the coaching staff of his ball club primarily to scout import Derrick Brown.

"We accidentally talked about it and they love the idea," said Eala on his talk with SK Telecom Knights basketball club top honcho Ji Tak Chang.

"The Korean official said his team and another Korean team, LG Sakers, could come over by September for a dual meet with PBA ball clubs. Pero hindi naman ganoon kadali iyon. We have to put that on the drawing board first but I think it’s feasible," Eala added.

To make it more exciting, Eala is looking at Australia as a possible third party in a possible three-nation meet to start what could become a truly "super league" in the region in the near future.

Eala said he will broach the idea with National Basketball League (NBL) commissioner Rick Burton in the next few days. The NBL is the PBA’s counterpart in Australia.

"We’re looking to do it by September next year. Pwedeng tagdalawang teams ang Korea, Philippines at Australia doon sa unang tournament. It’s feasible since our leagues are all on the break during that period. In our case, that would be a month before the opening of our season," said Eala.

The PBA commissioner believes the PBA board will also welcome this idea.

"Eventually naman kasi globalization na ang tingin namin dahil saturated na ang basketball sa atin," Eala said.

But Eala admitted doing this tri-nation meet is easier said than done. "Ang daming dapat pagusapan like revenue-sharing and others," he said.

However, if the tri-nation meet gets off the ground, Eala believed it would gather steam and eventually attract other big players in the region, including China and Japan.

It would be remembered that a group of American businessmen tried to form an Asian super league in the mid-90s but failed. Former Boston Celtics coach KC Jones even visited the country then to promote the league.