PBA plans to include Gilas Pilipinas in EASL 2022 tournament

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Philippine Basketball Association is going all in this coming 2022 East Asia Super League with the teams they are sending.

Aside from the top four PBA teams, PBA chairman Ricky Vargas confirmed that they might also send the Gilas Pilipinas to increase their bid for the prestigious title.

Fresh from two decent runs in the FIBA Asia qualifiers windows and an Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) experience, the Gilas Pilipinas, headed by program director and coach Tab Baldwin, are one of the teams to be reckoned with come game time.

Two years ago, the PBA sent the TNT Tropang Giga and the San Miguel Beermen to vie for the coveted title but the top teams failed to secure the trophy against the best basketball teams in Asia.

“The other way is also by forming teams around the top four teams. We may even consider including in the discussion the Philippine team, Gilas. We want to be competitive, and we will be competitive. That’s how we look at it,” Vargas said.

Vargas added that if a conflict in schedules will hinder some of their plans, the PBA will still find a way to field teams in the EASL tourney.

Several weeks ago, the PBA secured a partnership with the EASL and bared its plans of going global and solidifying its status as “the best league in Asia”.

“The reason we also joined that is we also wanted to show that we are the best league in Asia. It will be good for us to show that the PBA is alive and the PBA is competitive in a league such as that,” shared Vargas.