CHICAGO -- With one day to go before the start of the Philippine Cup conference, the playing status of Kiefer Ravena is still shrouded in mystery.
Will he or will he not play for the NLEX Road Warriors?
The matter is "still under negotiation" said a source familiar with the situation.
Acting in good faith following a stint in the Japan B.League last season, Kiefer has kept his promise to return and is enthused at the thought of playing for his mother team for one conference.
But the PBA, which has a notorious appetite for having its cake and eating it too, insists on a three-conference tour of duty.
Poor Kief, he willingly offered an inch, but the PBA is demanding a foot.
THAT IS THE DEAL-BREAKER.
The contract that awaits him in Japan, sources told me, pays him at least $40,000 a month for the next two years, and including potential bonuses his take home pay swells to $50,000 monthly.
Meanwhile, the maximum allowable contract he can get from NLEX is P420,000 a month.
You have to be stupid to take the inferior package here and Kief is not stupid.
Since the length of an athletic career has a short, limited shelf life he knows that the prudent thing to do is to sign the best deal available for him. Those who cavalierly dismiss such a move as a money grab are those who have never been in Kiefer's position.
He has worked all his life to get where he is now, he deserves this windfall.
By playing at least one conference in the PBA, he is risking a gigantic payday in Japan, and doing so for three conferences would be pushing his luck.
KIEFER RAVENA IS A SMART MAN. HE DOESN'T PLAY WITH FIRE.
And that's why I don't see him suiting up for NLEX in the Philippine Cup if the PBA insists on a three-conference tenure.
Look, if Kiefer turns his back on NLEX, he could be facing a five-year ban from the PBA.
He should just bite the bullet.
He's only 28, still a lot of basketball left at 33 if he chooses to come back.
And besides, with the kind of cash he is raking in Japan he won't need a job five years from now.
Go, Kief. Don't look back, man.
PROHIBITIVE FEES. Sports agents in the PBA are just like us, they need to get paid for the hard work they do.
Some, however, are charging oppressive fees that have forced a handful of Fil-Am players to seek foreign representation.
One such Fil-Am, I am told, was charged $10,000 to secure his passport. For the record, if one applies for a Philippine passport, the fee is only P1,200. Even if some elbows need to be greased to expedite the passport's release and "ayos" some requirement shortcomings, half a million pesos is murder.
Another agent charged a Fil-Am player $2000 to help him secure a "certificate of recognition as a Filipino" from the Bureau of Immigration. To apply for this document, the BOI charges only P12,800.
I get it that these agents need to be compensated for their legwork but do they have to charge this much?
Even local players are not spared. Several of them, a source told me, are paying their agents more than the five percent the PBA said in a memo.
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