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    PBA to welcome first foreign guest team in 22 years

    Bay Area Dragons to become first foreign guest team in PBA since 2004
    Mar 20, 2022
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    THE PBA board has given its go-signal for the participation of the Bay Area Dragons in the league’s 47th season, possibly during the Governors Cup simultaneously with the holding of the 2022 East Asia Super League.

    The Dragons will be composed of free agent players from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Chinese Taipei and are going to be reinforced by two imports during their PBA and EASL stints.

    First foreign guest team since 2004

    The EASL side is set to become the first foreign team to play in Asia's first pro league in 18 years, or since UBC Thunderbirds and US Mail and More Fil-Am Selection competed in the 2004 Fiesta Conference.

    On the other hand, a Gilas Pilipinas side coached by Rajko Toroman and led by naturalized player Marcus Douthit was the last guest team to compete in the PBA back in 2011.

    The team is reportedly going to have Manila as its temporary home base owing to the strict travel restrictions in Hong Kong, the new format of the EASL being a home-and-away setup.

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      A formal presser will be held on Monday to launch the partnership between the Dragons and the PBA.

      The Hong Kong team was earlier supposed to carry the name Bay Area Phoenixes, but was asked to change its monicker so as not to be confused with the Phoenix Fuel Masters.

      PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said the Hong Kong team’s participation is already guaranteed whether there would be 11 or teams in the league by late 2022, depending on whether the sale of Alaska to another company would be consummated.

      The EASL will be inaugurated in October consisting of eight teams representing the PBA, Korean Basketball League, Japan B League, Chinese-Taipei P.League+, and the Bay Area Dragons.

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