Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
The dream of having an unlimited PBA player cap for Gilas Pilipinas is finally a reality with the appointment of new commissioner Willie Marcial.
The congenial executive shared that the Board of Governors has already approved his proposal of taking out the limiting clause between the league and the national team program.
“I told everyone before that we will pitch that proposal to the Board and we weren’t denied,” he shared on Thursday as he addressed the media for the first time as the league’s new chief.
“It was the Board who said that whoever player coach Chot Reyes wanted, he can get them as long as there won’t be any schedule of games.”
Marcial made true on his earlier pronouncements of abolishing the two-per-team clause.
RELATED: OIC Marcial reaffirms PBA’s commitment to Gilas program
In the previous agreement between the PBA and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) forged in 2016, all 12 teams were required to lend at least one veteran and a member of the cadet pool drafted in the 2016 PBA Rookie Draft to the national team pool.
Since the start of the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers, only three teams, namely TNT (Jayson Castro, Troy Rosario, and Roger Pogoy), NLEX (Kevin Alas, Kiefer Ravena, and Fonzo Gotladera), and Rain or Shine (Gabe Norwood, Raymond Almazan, and Mike Tolomia) have exceeded that cap and willingly allowed their players to don the national tri-colors.
That, however, is no longer the case as Marcial and the rest of the Board are giving Reyes the free rein to pick the best possible players for the Philippine team for the upcoming international competitions.
“On the PBA’s side, that’s what we’ll do,” said Marcial.