One cannot really blame the players for wanting to secure the bag.
Joshua Torralba, formerly of the Blackwater Bossing, is the latest PBA player to sign with a team abroad, opting to play for the Goyang Sono Sky Gunners in the Korean Basketball League.
And it seems he won’t be the last Filipino cager who will follow in the footsteps of guys like Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos, especially with the PBA looking to ease its rules on overseas-based players.
During the Philippine Sportswriters’ Association Forum on Tuesday, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial was asked if the league is mulling over increasing the salary cap to address this trend.
“Sana. Kung kakayanin ng lahat ng teams, bakit hindi?” the amiable official said.
Before Torralba, PBA star Robert Bolick also decided to take his talents to Japan last May as he inked a deal with the Fukushima Firebonds.
Kai Sotto, who is trying to make his way to the NBA, also signed with the Hiroshima Dragonflies. Thirdy and Kiefer have resigned with their respective teams as well, as did Ramos. The list goes on.
As it is now, each PBA team’s salary cap is reportedly set at P50 million a year while players’ salaries cannot go over P420,000 a month.
But the league chief reiterated that the PBA will not get in the way of players trying to give their families a better life.
One cannot really blame the players for wanting to secure the bag, after all.
“Pero katulad ng sinabi ko, parang mga doctors at mga lawyers ‘yan na gusto din mag-abroad. Hindi natin pipigilan kung ‘yun makakabuti sa kanila, sa pamilya nila, ba’t natin pipigilan?” Marcial said.
At the moment, though, everything is still up in the air when it comes to possible changes in the PBA's payment structures. At the very least, it should be an encouraging sign that the league appears to be open to potentially increasing the salary scale.
(MDB)