THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will comply with whatever the government will establish as it explores ways to slowly integrate players back to training.
This was the assertion made by league commissioner Willie Marcial who says he agrees with the standards that are being established by the Philippine Sports Institute regarding the gradual return of sports under a "new normal" setting.
In PSI’s guidelines entitled “Framework Tool for Reintroducing Sport in a Covid-19 Environment,” 5x5 basketball will only be allowed once all levels of quarantine are lifted.
Marcial himself is batting for the gradual return of players to their respective teams. The PBA is already studying the possibility of workouts being conducted in small groups once Metro Manila is placed under general community quarantine (GCQ).
"Unti-unting balik sa normal ang plano ng gobyerno, at yun din naman ang tinitignan ng PBA. First is the set of guidelines for the return to practice. Under the GCQ, allowed na ang gathering ng small group, so baka naman pwede na rin mag-work out ang team ng four or five players per session," the league commissioner said.
Sports enthusiasts are somehow seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after several sports such as golf and tennis are now allowed in places under general community quarantine, according to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).
For basketball, the PSI matrix mentioned that "ball and skill drills in front of a home" or "an enclosed public street fronting the household" is permissible under modified enhanced community quarantine.
Under the GCQ, the solo use of a public basketball or a village court with "no person to person interaction or sharing of equipment" is allowed.
In places under modified GCQ, multiple person interaction (passing drills) but no-contact play or scrimmage (skill set run, agility drills or ball skills among distanced individuals) is also allowed.
However, 5-on-5 play will have to wait for the time when quarantine restrictions are completely lifted.
The PBA has uttered that it will wait until August before making a decision regarding the fate of the 45th season of the PBA. (JNP)