PBA moves Season 48 opening to November 5 to give way to Asian Games

The PBA has decided to postpone its Season 48 opening ceremonies from October 15 to November 5 to give way to the Asian Games.

The league said the development is to give players included in the Asiad campaign of the Gilas Pilipinas national team enough time to rest and recover before returning to their mother clubs and plunging back into PBA action for the Commissioner's Cup.

“Hindi biro ang sakripisyo nila kaya dapat lang bigyan natin sila ng sapat na panahon para makapagpahinga,” explained PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.

“Gusto rin natin makapaghanda ang mga teams para sa darating na season.”

("The sacrifice they will make is no joke, so we have to give them enough time to rest... We want teams to be able to prepare for the coming season.")

Despite this, Marcial stressed the Draft Combine and the Annual Draft will still proceed as scheduled.

The Draft Combine is set on September 12 and 13 at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong City, while the Annual Draft will be held on September 17 at the Market Market in Taguig City.

As of writing, the PBA and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas have yet to name the final lineup for the Asian Games although head coach Tim Cone already identified a few shoo-ins for the squad like June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson, and Justin Brownlee.

Gilas is bunched in Group C and will take on Bahrain on September 26 before facing SEA Games rival Thailand on September 28. The Filipinos will close out the preliminaries against Jordan on the 30th.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News