To help the PBA be more competitive against the rapidly growing overseas leagues such as Japan’s B.League and the Korean Basketball League (KBL) in attracting and retaining premium talent, Dickie Bachmann has one idea that makes sense.
The former Alaska team governor and Philippine Sports Commission chairman believes the league should consider lifting the individual maximum salary cap and instead adopt a stricter team salary cap, similar to what the NBA has been doing.
In an exclusive interview with SPIN.ph, Bachmann, a former Alaska player during the Milkmen's heyday in the PBA and a longtime member of the league's board of governors, was asked about the continuing exodus of elite Filipino basketball talent.
READ Is it time for the PBA to scrap its salary cap?
Over the past six years, the PBA has lost severaltop amateur prospects to the B.League and KBL, including Kai Sotto, Thirdy Ravena, Kevin Quiambao, SJ Belangel, Rhenz Abando, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, and Ethan Alvano, among them.
Even established stars have not been immune to the lure of overseas leagues, with players such as Arvin Tolentino, Kiefer Ravena, Ray Parks Jr., and Matthew Wright opting to continue their careers abroad after playing in the PBA.
Bachmann acknowledged that leagues in Japan, Korea, and even Taiwan offer significantly higher salaries, making them more appealing destinations for Filipino players.
“It’s really hard to compete. Teams are now competing not only [among themselves] in the PBA, but we’re also competing against teams and leagues abroad. You have Japan, you have Korea," said the six-year PBA veteran.
"I don’t blame the players because I was a player before. It’s a no-brainer. If I’m a player and you’re going to pay me three or four times what I can earn in the PBA, then I would go, ’di ba?” Bachmann added.
Wide disparity between PBA, B.League salaries
B.League top-tier teams are known to offer monthly salaries in the US$20,000 to $50,000 (P3 million) range for Asian Quota Imports from the Philippines. Salary rates for teams from Korea's KBL and Taiwan's pro leagues are lower.
In comparison, the PBA's official individual salary has been pegged at P450,000 for the longest time. It is in fact lower than the P500,000 a month cap during the prime of players like Alvin Patrimonio and Kenneth Duremdes.
Although under-the-table deals are common in the PBA, the highest salary by one player ever revealed by SPIN.ph sources comes up to $26,000 (P15.7M).
Because of this reality, Bachmann emphasized the need to give PBA teams greater flexibility in managing their payroll, enabling franchises to allocate larger salaries to top players that are closer - or higher - than packages offered by teams from the B.League, KBL and Taiwan leagues.
To keep expenses from going haywire, PBA teams will be mandated to stay within the team salary cap. That way the challenge is on how to balance the budget for the compensations of top players and the relievers.
“The best option is to remove the individual salary cap and implement a stricter team salary cap. That’s an option. With a team cap, it’s better because teams can decide how to distribute their payroll, as long as they don’t exceed the total cap.”
“I’m sure the commissioner and the board are already discussing ways to adjust and keep pace with the other leagues, so hopefully they are,” Bachmann said.
The current Head of Operations of Kosmas Athletic Ventures Corporation was also asked whether Alaska would have changed its approach to player compensation had the franchise remained in the PBA amid growing competition from the B.League and KBL.
“Definitely. We would want to find a win-win solution to this problem. When you have a team, of course, you want to have the best talent available. And you can only do that through the draft. That’s how Alaska built its team through the rookie pool.”
However, the current situation where top prospects are more inclined to head overseas for better pay than enter the PBA Rookie Draft would've compromised the model that had sustained Alaska's success, Bachmann admitted.
“So if you no longer have quality players entering the rookie pool, that becomes very difficult,” he said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
