ABA to invite Philippine guest team

MANILA, Philippines – The American Basketball Association (ABA Global) has started to revamp key franchises in preparation for the 2014 regular season games starting in November.

Florida’s Jacksonville Giants, Texas Fuel and the Los Angeles Slam are leading the way to improve television coverage and player exchanges, and are working closely with ABA Global’s Singapore office to gain a foothold in Asia.

As a global league, the ABA already counts travel teams from China, Japan, Canada and Puerto Rico. The Philippines sent its national team, Gilas Pilipinas, in California in 2010 to gain exposure followed by a visit to Los Angeles by coach Vincent Reyes in 2012 to look into a travel team franchise for its cadet squad.  

San Miguel has also been offered to participate in the ABA in line with its business expansions in the United States. A travel team for San Francisco Bay has already been reserved for the Cebuana Lhuillier Co. and they have already sent star guard Kevin Alas for training.

“A travel team of ABA Global does not commit to the full season of games but participate as an extensive training ground for speed and agility against big men and they participate only in the west coast or east coast games in the US. Their schedule is also tailor made for them so they can send their best players or national teams to participate at certain times of the year,” said ABA Global chairman Paul Monozca.

The ABA is also looking at drafting a Filipino guard to a top-ranked ABA team for the 2014 season and is observing current and undiscovered players in the country today. It is a dream for a Filipino cager to play side-by-side NBA free agents and/or veterans in the US.  

The American Basketball Association is the second largest professional basketball league in the United States. It was acquired in 1976 by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and absorbed its top teams including the San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, Golden State and LA Clippers.

Restarted in 2000, it is now the largest professional league in the US that’s present in all US states. In 2009, Monozca acquired a stake to bring the league into a $200 million global expansion.