Korean Basketball League to expand Asian Player Quota rule come 2022 season

Destinations and potential opportunities continue to increase for Filipino basketball players as another professional league, the Korean Basketball League (KBL), is set to expand its Asian Player Quota program that allows players from neighboring countries in the region suit up in their league.

The planned expansion is part of a three-year roadmap entitled 'Re:bound KBL' that league president Kim Hee-ok had laid down for the duration of his term.

On the league's website, 'Re:bound KBL' meant that "professional basketball will bounce back after a long stagnation, and it contains the will to actively prepare for ‘post-corona (COVID-19)’."

For the 2021-2022 season, the league is tipped to focus on resuming the league normally which begins with drafting new players before the season, improving the referee-game department, and strengthening communications. 

In the second stage, the 2022-2023 season, KBL will bring about some changes like the adjustment of the upper limit of salaries for foreign players, the increase of financial soundness, and the expansion of the Asian Player Quota.

Under the current system, only Japanese players are allowed to suit up as imports in the KBL as per the agreement between the two countries last year.

But the Japan B.League, which has a more open Asian Player Quota, has become a viable destination for Filipino players. After Thirdy Ravena's trailblazing campaign with the San-En Neophoenix last season, there are now six Filipinos, including a couple of pros, set to see action in the upcoming season.

Thirdy, his brother Kiefer Ravena, Ray Parks, Juan and Javi Gomez de Liaño, and Kemark Cariño are all set to suit for Japanese teams across both the first and second divisions of the league.

The expansion of the KBL's Asian Player Quota program could lead to additional opportunities for some of the best young talent here in the Philippines, much like Japan's program.

Outside of the B.League, teen basketball prodigy Kai Sotto has also been signed to the Adelaide 36ers in Australia's NBL while Jack Animam, the country's brightest women's basketball star, recently announced a deal with Radnicki Kragujevac, a club in the First Women's Basketball League of Serbia.

—JMB, GMA News