PBA stars of old come together in Legends Cup

A reunion of the country’s basketball legends under one league.

The Legends Cup, featuring former stars of the Philippine Basketball Association, takes off in March next year with four teams seeing action in the league’s opening tournament.

Aside from giving fans a chance to see them in action again, the players will serve as spearheads of a disaster preparedness and response campaign of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

“This tournament will not only showcase the hard court brilliance of our basketball legends, it will also help disseminate information on how we can prepare and what are the things that should be done when disaster strikes,” said Dick Balajadia, president of the organizing SportsLegends Managers, Inc.

League executive director Chito Loyzaga, a basketball legend himself, said the idea of forming a league for his fellow retired players and using it as a platform to spread information on disaster preparedness came when Supertyphoon “Yolanda” devastated the Visayas last year.

Also present in Tuesday’s weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at Shakey’s Malate were Brig. Gen. Boy Santiago of the AFP Civil Military Operations, Romina Marasigan of the Office of Civil Defense and Lt. Col. Edwin Sadang of NDRRMC.

“We need to create awareness, so people can prepare and be ready in times of crisis,” said Santiago. “The league and our basketball legends will definitely help get the message across,” said Santiago.

Loyzaga said the four teams will play in a double round-robin format in different venues around Metro Manila and nearby provinces with the top two teams after the crossover semifinals figuring in a winner-take-all final.

Among the players who have signified their intention to play in the tournament are Alvin Patrimonio, Nelson Asaytono, Jerry Codiñera, Marlou Aquino, Willie Miller, Kenneth Duremdes and Poch Juinio.