AFTER Barangay Ginebra won the PBA Commissoner’s Cup championship, will it mean finally seeing the Kings represent the league in the EASL?
If it does, one man will definitely be happy.
“Hey, my dream. My dream for three years,” EASL CEO Henry Kerins disclosed to SPIN.ph at the end of a brief visit to the country this week.
Three years. That was in 2023 when Ginebra beat the mighty Bay Area Dragons for the Commissioner’s Cup title and was a cinch to be one two PBA teams set to participate in the regional league along with Governors Cup title holder TNT.
But then a major revamp within the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) took effect shortly after the FIBA World Cup.
Ginebra mentor Tim Cone was appointed as the new Gilas Pilipinas head coach in lieu of Chot Reyes and the trio of Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, and Japeth Aguilar were later named as part of the national team to the Hangzhou Asian Games where it ended the country’s 61-year gold medal drought.
Jamie Malonzo was later added to the Gilas pool that began preparing for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the Asia Cup qualifiers.
With its hands full, Ginebra eventually withdrew from the EASL, the slot eventually going to the Meralco Bolts.
Kerins believed had Ginebra pushed through with its participation back then, the Kings could have made a huge impact in the league.
“Ginebra could make the semifinals,” he said. “Remember that Ginebra team was essentially the national team that played in the Asian Games. That was essentially the same team with Brownlee but with no imports.”
Under its set up, the EASL allows teams to have two imports, a naturalized player, and an Asian import in their roster.
Kerins noted that back then, Ginebra still had Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle.
But given its current roster, Kerin still sees the Kings giving the best club teams around the region a competitive fight.
“I don’t think there’s a problem,” he said. “But it’s really about do they want to commit, do they want to compete?
“I think if they’ll do that, there’s not going to be any problems. I think it's one of the top teams in all of Asia.”
As of now, the PBA has yet to name its representative to the EASL Home and Away Season 4 set to start in October.
Last year, the Bolts played in the league for the third straight season.
As things stand now, 11 club teams have already qualified for the coming season among them are Nagasaki Velca (B. League), Ryukyu Golden Kings (B. League), Alvark Tokyo (B. League), TSG GhostHawks (P. League+), Taoyuan Pilots (P. League +), Taipei Fubon Braves (P. League+), Goyang Sono Skygunners (KBL), Busan KCC Egis (KBL), Xac Broncos (MBA The League), Hong Kong Eastern (HKA1 Division Championship), and Hou Chon Basketball Macau (Macau SAR).
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