Overtime

PBA TO HOST VIRTUAL ROOKIE DRAFT, SPECIAL AWARDS NIGHT

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will hold two of its pre-season events online, said Commissioner Willie Marcial.

/ 2 January 2021

The awards ceremony for the concluded bubble season of the PBA will be slated on January 17 and the Rookie Draft is scheduled on March 14.

Instead of the annual Leo Awards, PBA will be staging a special awards night for the top players of the shortened 45th season due to the coronavirus restrictions.

Best Player of the Conference will be named for the conclusion of the Philippine Cup in lieu of the Most Valuable Player due to PBA having only staged a single conference in a compact schedule.

Stanley Pringle of Barangay Ginebra, Bobby Ray Parks of TNT, Calvin Abueva and Matthew Wright of Phoenix Super LPG, CJ Perez of Terrafirma, and Christian Standhardinger of Northport are being plumped for the said award.

Special Team and Outstanding Rookie will be instead named as Mythical Five and Rookie of the Year respectively. 

Moreover, Most Improved Player, Most Defensive Player, and Samboy Lim Sportsmanship Award are also up for grabs.

On the other hand, the league will be looking at the possibility of holding a draft combine under the current situation.

“Virtual ang pinag-uusapan namin at pinag-aaralan namin ‘yung draft combine kung pupuwede,” said Marcial.

PBA will finalize the schedule for the draft after the deadline of applications on January 17.

The events will be broadcasted on TV5, PBA Rush, One Sports, and all online platforms of the league.