PBA cancels Draft Combine for aspirants

MANILA, Philippines – The PBA has called off the Draft Combine for the 2021 PBA Rookie Draft next month for safety precautions amid the pandemic.

Commissioner Willie Marcial said that the league’s duty and responsibility to ensure the health and safety of participants from the COVID-19 risks served as the deciding factor in pulling the plug on the staple pre-draft showcase.

The league also considered the travel challenges among the 97 applicants, who are either abroad or in the provinces as of now, with strict guidelines, including a 14-day quarantine still in place.

“The safety of everyone remains our top priority. We don’t want to gamble the protection of the participants,” Marcial told The STAR.

The league was scheduled to push through with the traditional draft combine under strict protocols on March 10 and 11 before the draft proper on March 14, which will be held online.

It was supposed to be held in batches at either the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong or the bigger Ynares Center in Antipolo without any scrimmage and pocket tournament to avoid mass gathering and physical contact.

Without the combine in which rookies get to strut their stuff in various skill tests, the PBA has allowed teams to hold private and individual workouts for prospects to gauge them up close under the same protocols of their ongoing training camps.