AT A PRESS conference to open the new season of the Japanese B.League, trailblazer Thirdy Ravena expressed the wish to see more Pinoys join him in Japan.
“Hoping for more Filipinos to come,” he said. “Whichever path they may choose, just know that Japan’s always a nice place to be and the league [is] always evolving, always looking for ways on how to develop not just the players but the league and make it stronger and stronger each and every single year.”
Two years ago, Ravena was snapped up by San-En Neophoenix, and became the first of the big wave of Pinoy imports to Japanese shores (including his own brother, Kiefer). This season, Greg Slaughter, Justine Baltazar, and Matthew Wright are among the dozen players who will see action in the B.League.
Earlier this month, PBA officials met with their B.League counterparts to discuss what one Philippine lawmaker has dubbed the “pirating” of Filipino players.
Thirdy Ravena reacts to netizen
On Twitter, Ravena’s words ignited some criticism.
“Di naman kasalanan maglaro abroad pero WAG na mag feeling patriot na flexing na representing [Philippine flag emoji] ... it's all abt [dollars emoji]...” wrote one netizen.
They added: “[C]hoose nila lumaro dyan pero wag pa-victim kung ginagawa ng @pbaconnect trabaho nila para protektahan liga.”
The “feeling patriot” line touched a nerve with Thirdy.
“Feeling patriot? Talaga ba?” he wrote in a tweet reply. “9 months akong wala sa Pilipinas pero umuwi agad ako right after Japan para makapag-laro sa SEA games 3 DAYS after a 60-game season kahit may injury ako (and all of the windows as well except the Korea and NZ cause of my injury).”
He went on: “Critique me for my game, I’m incredibly fine with that. Sabihin mo na lahat tungkol dun. Pero wag mo kong tatawaging feeling patriot kasi pwede namang pinili ko magpahinga buong summer pero mas ginusto ko parin maglaro sa bansa kahit na hate at criticism lang natanggap ko.”
The Ravena brothers — consistent fixtures in the national team — have both committed to play in the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers on November.
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