THE prospect of a Dwight Ramos moving back home one day is exciting enough that when talk floated early in the year that he may yet join the next PBA rookie draft, the rumor grew so loud it reached his coach in the Japan B.League.
"My coach in Japan showed me a screenshot [of a post] on Facebook and asked me, 'Is this true?'" Ramos said smiling.
"Yeah, it's everywhere. I don't know," he added, throwing both hands up as if to say we'll never know what's true and what's not on anything we see on social media.
The posts were false, of course, since Dwight himself told SPIN.ph that he has one more season left in his contract as Asian quota import with Levanga Hokkaido in the Premier division of the B.League that he intends to fulfill to the end.
SPIN COVER: How Dwight evolved into Gilas' most dependable player
But that doesn't mean the Gilas Pilipinas mainstay's mind is close to the idea of playing in Asia's oldest pro league. The 6-4 guard, in fact, says it is something that he is seriously considering and hopes to do someday.
"I think about it a lot though," Dwight said of a move to the PBA, which has lost the best players to come out of the Philippine varsity ranks over the last six years, both Fil-foreign and homegrown, to pro leagues in Japan and Korea.
But that is not to say that the decision to leave Japan would be easy, with Ramos the first to point out that the B.League - with the bold steps and the big gains it has made in recent years - and the PBA now playing 'two different games."
Although he won't say it, you can sense the B.League - with its multiple imports and high expectations on Asian imports - challenges Dwight to get better every single season and it would take a lot to convince him to leave it in favor of the PBA.
"Obviously, the B.League is rising so high. It's two different games, the PBA and the B.League. And obviously, I still have goals that I have in the B.League and I feel like every year. I have more to show than what I've given.
"I get better every year. But I feel like I haven't reached my best there yet. It's difficult there because [aside from] having three imports, the Japanese players have gotten better since when I first started.
"If you don't keep improving, you're probably going to get phased out of the league. At this point, just to be there every year and keep getting re-signed, it just makes me feel like I have to keep getting better. Or else I'm going to have to find something else if they don't re-sign me."
At 28, Ramos acknowledges the best years of his career are fast approaching, if these aren't here already, and such a big decision will have to be made soon.
"I guess it's about timing, the right timing in my career," said Saint Dwight on a possible move to the PBA. "I mean I'm reaching the prime years. So every year I have to choose carefully how I want my career to go."
So what can the PBA do to sway him?
"For now, I'm set for this next season with Hokkaido. And then after that, we'll see. We'll see what the best move is next," he said. "I mean it would be nice if, you know, I look at the PBA games and the stands are more filled during the regular season, not just in the playoffs.
"That's something that makes the player more excited to play, more excited to join. That would be nice seeing the stands filled again for regular season games, right? I think everybody wants that."
Bringing the big crowds back to PBA eliminations games may take a lot of work for a 50-year old league that has lost considerable luster, but the task of luring Dwight Ramos back to the country isn't entirely a lost cause.
Don't forget, playing in the PBA one day means Dwight will be playing more often in a place he considers home.
"It's a different feeling [playing in Japan], because obviously I'm an imported player [there and] this is not really my people in the crowd," he said. "And then when I come back and play for Gilas, I see all the Filipinos.
"It feels different when you play with your own countrymen, in front of your own country. So. I always think about it," Ramos added.
Here's the full video of Dwight Ramos' SPIN Cover Story.
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.
