PBA picks Narvasa as new commissioner

Chito Narvasa, a former collegiate player and coach with Ateneo before calling the shots for two PBA teams in the late 1990s, was unanimously picked as the new commissioner of Asia’s pioneering pro league yesterday, succeeding Chito Salud.

Narvasa will be the first commissioner under the league’s new organizational chart that will have Salud as president and CEO.

Starting next season, Salud will have nothing to do with the technical aspects of the game, which will now be Narvasa’s chief responsibility.

Narvasa, also the current president of the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines, will start watching the games next week to see what he can do to improve them, especially the problem on officiating.

“I would like to thank the board and team owners for thinking I can do something good for the league,” said Narvasa, who will take a leave from his duties as director of the Citystate Bank.

“I will talk to the coaches, and later on the players—I need their contributions,” Narvasa said when asked what he will do with the current state of officiating.

“I would like to know what bothers them and what later on we can do to help improve the games.”

Narvasa beat out PBA operations director Rickie Santos, Vince Hizon and Jay Adalem for the post, which has been watered down considerably from the position of responsibility once enjoyed by the likes of the late Leo Prieto, lawyer Rudy Salud and Jun Bernardino, etc.