No longer a Little NBA

When Joy Dionisio scored the very first PBA basket almost four decades ago, like most basketball fans, I was in front of a TV set in a pre-cable era.  We were all eagerly awaiting what this Philippine version of the NBA would do now that it was all in the open that we were going to have professional basketball players.

In 1975, commercial basketball team owners had enough of the Basketball Association of the Philippines and decided to form its own pro league.  Back then, the PBA officially ended the participation of star players like Robert Jaworski, Ramon Fernandez, Atoy Co, Bogs Adornado and others in the national team.

The sports world was still in the “spirit of amateurism” advocated by longtime International Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage. It would take 15 years before professional players would again play in the national team as what Ronnie Magsanoc, Alvin Patrimonio and others did in the 1990 Asian Games.

It’s been a joyful, delightful, sometimes tumultuous and chaotic but never boring 39 seasons for Asia’s first professional basketball league. It has had several glorious stretches like the Crispa-Toyota battles that were occasionally broken up by Royal Tru-Orange and Utex; the Great Taste dominance; the Ultra years with Ginebra, Purefoods, Shell, Alaska and San Miguel with their athletic and popular players; and later on, there were the Red Bull and Talk N’ Text runs at the turn of the century.  Then, of late there has been the Grand Slam season of San Mig Coffee.

The league loves to frame them as “banner years” when gate attendance and television ratings were at all time highs.  In 1989, when Purefoods and Ginebra were at their most popular, there was one championship series when the PBA knocked out everybody in the TV ratings war.  Yes, it’s true. At its height, the PBA could even beat the telenovelas, showbiz talk shows and musicals.

But the landscape has changed and the measuring sticks for popularity have to be redefined.  The PBA remains a popular trend and topic in social media with fans, fanatics and followers still posting or tweeting away their thoughts on players, teams and trends.  It may no longer be as pervasive on TV as the telenovelas but it remains a popular and viable entertainment format that cuts across all demographics.

As it enters a new decade, new teams have joined its roster and even Manny Pacquiao couldn’t resist the lure of playing basketball in a venue of jam-packed people.  As the saying goes, once a performer, always a performer. Let’s see how long the novelty of the idea lasts before he settles in to simply coach or be a face for Kia in the PBA.

There are avenues the league should study as it continues to reign as the longest sports league in the country. It already has a presence in social media but having a cable station of its own should be on the planning board.

Staying on mainstream broadcast lanes is all right.  However, a cable presence where nostalgic games, replays, features and even up to date programs can satisfy every fan’s appetite for basketball stories and action will give the league greater flexibility and connectivity on a longer basis each day.

So the PBA lives on. It’s been that quick really since Dionisio put in that first basket.  As long as this country loves basketball, there will be more PBA baskets, stories and dramas to look forward to.