ARE the days of Pinoy imports in the Japan B.League's top flight numbered?
That seems the case as the Japanese professional basketball league continues to innovate, from a 'naturalized player over an Asian import' option, to a rookie draft to opening doors for Lebanese players, to a new tier system to be launched next season.
The new tier system beginning in the 2026-27 season will do away with its promotion-and-relegation system in favor of classifying its clubs into three divisions, namely the B.League Premier, B.League One, and B.League Next.
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The innovation, the B.League said, is in line with its goal of "energizing Japan through basketball" with the quest of becoming the No. 2 league in the world after the NBA.
Already announced were the 26 clubs for the top-tier B.League Premier - the teams which meet the criteria of having minimum attendance of 4,000, annual revenue of JPY1.2B (approximately USD8.4 million), and an arena with a capacity of 5,000 people.
B.League One’s 25 teams were also unveiled with one club still under review, while three clubs are admitted to B.League Next.
Also set to be introduced this upcoming season will be the rookie draft with respect to the newly established priority negotiation rights for those playing under the respective clubs’ youth teams.
So how does all of these affect the Filipinos’ chances of landing jobs in the B.League?
Though the B.League is not scrapping its Asian Players Quota program, Asian imports are now bunched in the same group with naturalized players, meaning that the rich and championship-chasing teams may opt to sign a naturalization candidate – one that can also help the Akatsuki Five in the long run - instead of an Asian import.
It’s already being done by clubs like Alvark Tokyo with Ryan Rossiter, Utsunomiya Brex with Gavin Edwards, and SunRockers Shibuya with Josh Hawkinson, respectively.
Remember, clubs are allowed to enlist three foreign imports with two allowed on the court at the same time, which means that teams may favor allocating that spot for a naturalized player over an Asian import.
Of course, not all clubs can afford to sign naturalized players which still leaves the window of opportunity for these Asian players to be signed. But also account that there’s now stiffer competition for Filipinos with players from 14 countries now being welcomed to the program.
From the initial rollout that only opened doors for players from the Philippines, China, Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Indonesia, the B.League has now opened its doors for players from Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and India in 2024, and Lebanon starting in 2025.
Just this season, Lebanese players Omar Jamaleddine (Kawasaki Brave Thunders), Ali Mezher (Akita Northern Happinets), and Sergio El Darwich (Sendai 89ers) were signed by Japan top-flight clubs.
The number of Filipino imports in the B.League have also been on a downward trend, from a high of 10 in the 2023-24 season, to eight in 2024-25, to just six in the B1 for the 2025-26 season following the termination of Jamie Malonzo’s contract with Kyoto Hannaryz.
Kai Sotto (Koshigaya Alphas), Kiefer Ravena (Yokohama B-Corsairs), AJ Edu (Gunma Crane Thunders), and Ray Parks (Osaka Evessa) signed fresh contracts with their respective squads prior to the 2025-26 season. The other two Filipinos are Dwight Ramos (Levanga Hokkaido) and newcomer Francis Lopez (Fighting Eagles Nagoya).
Though there’s no question that there will always be room for Pinoys in the Japan B.League, that window may be slowly closing in.
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