Macau no longer playing in PBA after Season 50 stint

By Ivan Saldajeno

MAKATI—By the time Macau plays its last game in the PBA Governors' Cup against Converge on Friday night, the former's two-conference stint as a guest team will come to an end.

Commissioner Willie Marcial confirmed that the Giant Pandas will not be returning as Team Number 13 in the upcoming seasons.

The decision came at the heels of three bad beats that set franchise-high wins for their recent opponents.

The string of bad luck began when Macau lost a 78-138 decision to NLEX, which set the new PBA record for the most lopsided result ever.

The Giant Pandas then conceded a franchise-high 146 points to the Terrafirma Dyip before falling to a 55-point loss to the San Miguel Beermen minutes before Marcial announced the verdict to reporters who covered the Tuesday night games at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila, a franchise-high winning margin for the PBA's only remaining pioneering franchise.

The league accepted Macau as the third club in the EASL era to join as a guest team after Bay Area and Hong Kong Eastern.

However, only the Giant Pandas never made the playoffs among the three, and despite promising a more solid roster for the PBA Governors' Cup, they sank even further at 2-9 so far this conference.

Even during the Commissioner's Cup, the frustration was already there, as evidenced by the sudden exit of Damian Chong Qui from their game against the Dyip.

While Chong Qui and head coach Marcus Elliott seemingly patched things up, the former left the Giant Pandas for good during the PBA's Gilas Pilipinas break to sign with another club representing Macau, the Hou Chon, for the EASL.

Jenning Leung, Ramon Cao, and De'Vondre Perry left the Giant Pandas too for EASL clubs, leaving only Kobey Lam and Oscar Lopez to lead the way.

Making matters worse, Elliott, who is dealing with personal matters, has yet to return to the team, paving the way for Raymond Tiongco and Tylon Darjuan to call the shots.

Either Tiongco or Darjuan is likely to coach Macau in its PBA farewell game against Converge at the Ynares Center 1 in Antipolo.

Despite no longer allowing the Giant Pandas to participate furthermore, don't be surprised if there will be 13 teams competing next season.

In a separate interview with Bilyonaryo News Channel's Zeus Valdez on Wednesday, Marcial confirmed that at a team from Mongolia has expressed interest in becoming a guest team.

However, the league executive added that whether they would be allowed to join will mainly rely on how they will schedule the 2027 season tentatively beginning on March 7.