AS Filipino talents continue to take their act to the Japan B.League, questions continue to pester on the exodus' impact to the growth of Philippine basketball.
While the migration has gone unimpeded from the time Thirdy Ravena became the league's first-ever Asian Quota Player in November 2020, the B.League continued to lure players both young and experienced from the Philippines to help raise the pro league's profile and its level of competition.
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To this date, at least 15 Filipino players have been lured to the Land of the Rising Sun including recent All-Stars Kiefer Ravena, Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto, Greg Slaughter, Bobby Ray Parks Jr., Carl Tamayo, Roosevelt Adams, RJ Abarrientos, and Matthew Wright.
Gilas Pilipinas mainstay AJ Edu sat out due to another knee injury.
Moreover, former University of the Philippines stars brothers Javi and Juan Gomez de Liano as well as Kobe Paras also spent a couple of years playing in Japan.
As it has become the new career trend of the skilled and talented, is local hoops compromised?
Wright, Kyoto Hannaryz's import, begged to differ.
"I can't speak for the PBA, but it's best for the Philippines not to see this as a problem, but more of a motivation to improve the leagues in the country and [Philippine] basketball in general," he said.
The former Phoenix winger was the fastest Pinoy import to hit 1000 points in the B.League. He joined the Ravenas, Parks, and Ramos in the 1k club in only 80 games, since moving to Japan in 2022.
Having been part of both leagues, Wright thinks the trend poses a challenge for Philippine basketball.
"Rather than point fingers and blame people for leaving, I think it’s best to take it in a more constructive approach, then we’ll be better," he explained.
He also shed light on the rapid growth of basketball in other Asian countries, as seen from the 2023 Fiba World Cup.
Wright added: "Basketball in Asia has grown, we’ve seen Japan in the last World Cup did really well, China and Korea have always had good teams, all these countries are catching up and surpassing us."
And apart from the professional leagues' efforts to improve their standards, Wright believes there's still room for improvement for Philippine basketball in general, beginning with the fundamentals of aspiring players.
"Take the challenge and try to improve the league, and I think it starts at the grassroots, starts with the kids," he continued.
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