PBA goes the extra mile

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has vowed to look after the welfare of its own people ahead of the planned bubble for the season reboot. Deputy commissioner Eric Castro said they are prepared to maintain the physical and mental well-being of their staff who serves as the backbone of the league resumption amid the pandemic.

“We’re up to it because we know we have to sacrifice for the season and because we want to help the PBA to get back as soon as possible,” Castro told Daily Tribune in a telephone conversation Sunday afternoon. “Making those sacrifices is part of our job. We’re more than excited because it’s been six months already.”

The PBA has already set 9 October as the target date of its restart while it is eyeing to have the teams enter the bubble on 26 September and conduct scrimmages the next day.

On the part of the teams, players and coaches, this could mean a lot of sacrifices.

But PBA said teams are not the only ones forced to alter their lifestyle in the next two months.

To count, Castro said they will have 15 individuals from the Office of the Commissioner, 16 referees, five table officials, three statistics officials and five media personnel coming into the bubble.

Castro added they are ready to shoulder the lodging, food and testing expenses of their people in the duration of the season which is anticipated to run until early December. The official also shared they are set to hire a psychologist who will talk to the staff on a regular basis about the importance of mental health in this extraordinary time.

“The double-header games everyday is laborious for the staff so we will hire a psychologist who will talk to them in the morning,” he added.

“What’s good about the staff is that they are very receptive to our plan.”