MANILA, Philippines—The press conference for PBL cager Jason Castro at the Saisaki Edsa was over when Paul Monozca handed me a photocopied document. He said it was a scoop, although I saw several other copies of the paper in his folder.

Paul is a Singapore-based Filipino who works for Price-Waterhouse and other business entities. He accompanied to Manila Bob Turner of the Singapore Slingers, the team that recently signed Jason to a seven-month contract in the NBL.

I glanced at the document Paul gave me. It was a copy of a news article with Paul’s picture in it. “ABA appoints Paul Monozca to Board,” the headline read.

The caption under Paul’s photo said he is the first Asian to sit in the board of the prestigious basketball organization. ABA means American Basketball Association and the news article from the Global News Wire stated that it is the second largest professional basketball league in North America, next to the NBA.

The ABA has developed big stars such as Dr. J (Julius Erving), George Gervin, David Thompson and Mike McGhee and “continues to develop top class players in the professional ranks today.”

* * *

I was headed for the exit when I stopped and made a U-turn. I decided maybe I should have a short chat with Paul before he returned to Singapore the following day.

To be honest, I was surprised to learn that the ABA was still alive. I know the league had folded up or, as some claim, merged with the NBA some years back when the latter absorbed ABA teams such as the San Antonio Spurs and the Indiana Pacers. Lately, I only hear and read about the CBA and the NBDL, which is the NBA’s farm league. None among the more recent batch of imports and Fil-Ams seem to have had stints in the ABA.

At any rate, a colleague said that—if his memory serves him right—the ABA had resurrected after the turn of the century and is now more focused on commercial teams “on a mid-tier level but covering all cities in the USA.”

* * *

I sat beside Paul as he took the first bite of his late lunch.

“What did it take for you to land this position which seems to be much coveted?” I asked him.

He put his chopsticks on his plate.

“Money. Lots of money,” he replied. I didn’t ask how much but as I continued to read the wire article, I came across a paragraph which said the appointment “was the outcome of a deal believed to be worth $2 million off Monozca’s pockets.”

This involved the development of the ABA’s heritage in Asia except China. The deal could not include China because the rights had been bought by a Chinese tycoon who also owns the club team Beijing Aoshen, based in Singapore.

Second question to Paul: “Does Philippine basketball stand to gain anything from your ABA post?

“Much,” he replied. “The ABA currently has 18 teams. My plan is to have at least one Filipino in every team, starting next season. My vision is to make the Filipino cager global.”

Paul said it has started with Jason Castro, who will be playing for the Singapore-based Slingers in the Australian pro league.

* * *

Apparently the PBA board is having much difficulty in choosing a television coveror. Despite the late entry of Makisig Network, the choice is down to Solar and ABS-CBN.

Last Tuesday the PBA convened to again evaluate the offers of the two bidders. They also listened to a Nielsen report—the result of a survey recently conducted on the reach, coverage, and other factors of the broadcast stations the two networks will use, in order to make a comparison.

The evaluation continues, according to commissioner Sonny Barrios.

* * *

From what I gathered, rookie JC Intal will soon be suiting up for the Express after being laid off for several weeks. JC was plagued by a mysterious disease later found to be caused by a virus that did not allow his body to secrete sweat.

I’m no doctor but a condition like this will surely result in toxins and fluids building up inside the body.

Well, at least they’ve found the antidote to the virus and if the report is accurate, JC will soon be sweating it out in the hard court.