SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is wishing that the Jordan Heading situation will be the last of its kind as it seeks to foster better communication with the professional leagues in the region.
Panlilio on Jordan Heading situation
Federation president Al Panlilio is aiming to have formal dialogues with leagues such as the Japan B.League, the Korean Baskeball League (KBL), and the like to avoid a repeat of the controversy which hounded the Gilas Pilipinas guard.
"I think the Korean league has approached the PBA for some sort of a collaboration agreement, so we should do the same with Japan and also Taiwan. That’s something that we need to do," said Panlilio, who's also the concurrent governor of Meralco in the PBA.
Heading found himself in hot water after signing with the Taichung Wagor Suns in the T1 League in Taiwan. The SBP raised eyebrows on this move as the 6-foot-2 guard is still under contract with the Gilas Pilipinas program.
Fiba has yet to make a final ruling on the matter, but Heading has been impressive in his stint there, averaging 21.3 points on 40-percent shooting from deep, to go with 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals in 34.1 minutes. That also prevented the Fil-Aussie from participating in the February window of the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers in Manila.
Panlilio could not deny the disappointment he has with Heading, the top pick in the special Gilas round of the PBA Season 46 Rookie Draft, saying, "He’s still contracted with the SBP and that’s my frustration with Jordan in terms of the commitment he had."
"That’s something we wrote Fiba about also because his clearance came from Fiba but there was some misrepresentation to Fiba because I think the clearance he got was from the US because he’s also been to the US. Maybe the US not clearing with the Philippines and Fiba not knowing that we did have a contract with him, it's still a live contract. We are actually opposing why he was contracted by the Taiwan team, we have a formal letter to Fiba, and we are just awaiting Fiba's formal answer to that letter."
For Panlilio, things like these could have been avoided had there been a better communication between Heading and the SBP.
It's the same case with that of the likes of Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos, both of whom still have live contracts in Japan but secured releases from their clubs to answer Gilas' call.
"My understanding is mayroon si Thirdy, mayroon din si Dwight [na Fiba release clauses] especially for Fiba tournaments. Mayroon silang ganoon and it’s also up to them to talk to the mother teams," Panlilio stated.
"We’ve had good relationships with the Japan federation and Korean federation naman and they should be able to work it out with their teams. Same with them, yung club teams nila that when the national teams call, they actually release them naman anyway, di ba?"
Those discussions, however, shouldn't be limited for Filipinos plying their trade overseas as Panlilio also looks to straight things up with collegiate leagues like the UAAP and the NCAA in terms of allowing their players to beef up the national team pool, as seen with the cases of Justine Baltazar of La Salle and Carl Tamayo of the University of the Philippines.
"As the federation, we also need to work with the schools because we do have to seek permission for the players from the UAAP, NCAA. You’re talking about all the stakeholders of Philippine basketball," he said.
As for Heading, it doesn't mean that the doors for him to join Gilas Pilipinas in the future is already closed. "There’s nothing cast in stone naman. Pwede naman pag-usapan yang mga yan," said the amiable executive.
"I know his own personal reasons on why he did it. I was just hoping it was done sana properly. But things pass naman eh, and like in business, things happen and kung pag-usapan, if at the end of the day kailangan namin siya, if Chot [Reyes] identifies [Heading] as one of the key players that we need to bring in, we’ll talk to him and set it straight."
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