ENOUGH is enough is what the PBA must have said when it lowered the boom on players moving to other leagues and imposed a three-year ban on defectors.
It is a frantic move by a frightened league to stem the tide of migration.
The new regulation, reportedly approved by the PBA board on July 17, sent to players and team owners on July 18, and made public on August 5, is the strongest response yet of the league to stop the trend among the country’s rising stars and skilled veterans going abroad to play, mostly in Japan and South Korea.
Whether the PBA order will have a legal leg to stand on, or whether it violates the constitutional right of individuals to plan their own destiny, will not be known until the regulation is contested in court.
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What is clear, however, is that the PBA has been hurt to its core as player after player abandoned the league in increasing frequency. Over the past few years, some college stars have refused to enter the PBA draft, veterans have not renewed their contracts, and, in one publicized case, a rookie did not honor the draft selection and played for a rival league.
That rookie is also banned for three years under the PBA’s new rules and regulations.
Surprisingly, despite the shock waves generated by the memorandum, the PBA has not called a press conference to explain how it arrived at its earth-shaking decision to ban players.
But it’s not rocket science to know why.
The apparent trigger is the sudden departure in recent days of three skilled and veteran players — Northport’s Arvin Tolentino and Magnolia’s Will Navarro, who joined Korean Basketball League teams; and Jamie Malonzo of Barangay Ginebra, who signed up with a team in the Japan B.League.
Also now out of the PBA orbit are Kevin Quiambao, who recently signed a new three-year contract with a Korean team, and Kai Sotto, who is with a Japan pro team.
Many more are out, with the number expected to increase unless the PBA’s draconian move succeeds. The many player departures, most of them promising, skilled, and potential PBA superstars, have rightly alarmed the PBA, which over the past years has seen its popularity decline, its fan attendance diminish, its income reduced.
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Player migration to other leagues is just the latest blow, but one of the most damaging to the PBA’s long-standing reputation as the country’s number one sports entertainment, a position currently under siege by women’s volleyball.
But the PBA doesn’t need to look far to find where the fault lies — it lies in thee, so literature has said. It is not in the departure of future and current stars, some of the fault lines are within the purview of the PBA board.
One serious flaw is the uneven resources among teams with the rich ones often the favored destinations of the best players, and the poor ones perennially saddled with also-rans as their most talented, who could have help achieve parity in the league, are often traded, for alleged financial consideration.
For these poor teams, winning championships is secondary, staying in the PBA is foremost.
Simply, rich teams can support their top players with extras that override the salary cap, but poor teams are stuck with the salary caps and unable to provide incentives.
Moreover, see how the league has impaired itself. In the PBA, there has been no significant increase in player salaries since the board instituted a salary cap in 1992. That cap is P420,000 a month or P5,040,000 a year. With the number falling below that, depending on player categories, skill level, and length of service.
There is another set of salaries for rookies, with the top three in the draft pick getting a maximum of P420,000 a month.
These salaries are sweetened by “hidden” perks, such as bonuses for won games, bonuses when players win individual awards, and bonuses when teams advance to the playoffs or especially when they win championships.
It could be said that PBA players command the highest salaries among Filipino athletes. And the best ones demanding even larger compensation may seem like unreasonable ingrates to outsiders.
But Shonny Winston of Converge, in an interview with SPIN.ph columnist Homer Sayson, may have said it best for the good players: "I understand the PBA is a business, but I also know that I need to do what's best for me. The career I chose has time limitations and unforeseen risks that make it necessary to make the most money while I'm still in my prime.”
Indeed, there is an inevitable shelf life for athletes.
The PBA must also accept that all over the world the best basketball players are moved around like chess pieces. This is the norm, one accepted by both players and teams, amateur and professional. Players going from one league to another is regarded favorably. They do what they have to do to achieve the ultimate dream: to play at the pinnacle of the sport, the NBA.
Filipino players may not attain this dream soon, but they must be allowed to go out and grow. Be the best they can, here or abroad, and to earn the most money while their bodies and talent permit.
Bans are not the answer. Nor are band aids. There is a disease in the PBA. Cure its root cause or lose it all.
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