The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League marks a milestone in local basketball when it holds the first two games of the MPBL Sixth Season National Finals in Dubai, UAE, on Dec. 1 and 3.
No other local league has staged its title series on foreign soil, giving the North and South Division champions the distinction of strutting their stuff before their countrymen working and living in the Middle East.
Game One and Game 2 will be played at the Al Nasr Club's Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall at 7 p.m. in Dubai (11 p.m. Philippine time).
Game Three and, if necessary, Game Four and then Game Five of the title playoffs will be played in the Philippines with the higher-ranked team gaining the home court advantage.
Adding spice to the Dubai National Finals is an exhibition game featuring MPBL Founder and CEO Manny Pacquiao against an all-star selection from the world-renowned tourism and business destination.
MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes, other league officials, and delegation members of the North and South champion teams are also expected to see action.
The Dubai games will be presented by DJMC, the same group that hosted the MPBL Dubai Invasion in 2019 when Batangas, Davao Occidental and Imus played some regular games at the Hamdan Sports Complex.
Pacquiao, boxing's only 8-division world champion and a Philippine senator at then, also played in exhibition games.
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