After a long break, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will finally tip off its 46th season on July 16 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The development came to be after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases gave the green light for the professional basketball league to go ahead with its tournament with the use of a closed-circuit setup. This means players, coaches, and staff will only go from their homes to the playing venue and straight back home again afterwards.

Games and Amusement Board (GAB) chairman Baham Mitra announced the development on Friday morning.

“The IATF has already approved the resumption of the PBA in a meeting yesterday. The PBA will start on July 16,” said Mitra.

This bodes well for the different teams, which have been preparing in training camps held in various parts of Luzon.

The last time the PBA held games was in December 2020 when the Barangay Ginebra Kings defeated the TnT Tropang Giga, 82-78, in Game Five of the Philippine Cup finals inside a bubble setup held at the Angeles University Foundation gym in Pampanga.

The 46th season was supposed to start in March but got pushed back because of the uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. (JNP)