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| With Gilas in mind, the PBA might hold its 50th season for 14 months. FIBA (file photo) |
MANILA--The landmark 50th season of the PBA could go down as one of the longest, too.
The PBA board of governors proposed that the league's golden year span the entire 2026, with separate breaks in action ahead of Gilas Pilipinas' upcoming tournaments.
With Season 50 starting on Oct. 5 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the PBA is facing the possibility that the new season will last for about 14 months.
"The league's golden season is a long season," said PBA commissioner Willie Marcial at the sidelines of the league's planning session at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, as reported on the league's website.
However, PBA board chairman Ricky Vargas implied that they would not mind having a long Season 50 as long as the league continues to throw its all-out support for Gilas, led by concurrent Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.
"We want to qualify to the Olympics," said Vargas, sharing his hopes that Gilas qualifies for the 2028 Olympics men's basketball event at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
"We're all-in in our support to our chairman, and going with it is our support to Gilas," added PBA vice chairman Alfrancis Chua, who is also Gilas' program director.
For Gilas to make it to the LA Olympics, it must either finish as the best Asian country in the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar or win any of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments earlier in 2028.
Gilas will first undergo the continental qualifier for the FIBA World Cup, starting with a home-and-home set against Guam, led by San Miguel winger Jericho Cruz, on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1.
Gilas must be among the top seven teams after the entire six-window Asian qualifier to enter the FIBA World Cup for the fourth straight time.
Gilas is also looking for back-to-back golds in the Asian Games in Nagoya, whose schedule could now coincide with the PBA calendar.
The PBA Season 50 will start with the all-Filipino Philippine Cup to be followed by the import-spiced conferences, the Governors' Cup and Commissioner's Cup.
This time, both reinforced conferences will switch places in terms of the height limit for the foreign signings; that is, the Governors' Cup will no longer have a height limit for imports, while the Commissioner's Cup will require each import to be at most six-feet-six-inches in height.
