Dwight not closing door on PBA stint

MANILA, Philippines — Prized guard Dwight Ramos is hoping he could still play in the PBA after his stint with the Toyama Grouses in the Japan B. League.

The 23-year-old Fil-American said he has no plans on closing the door on the PBA where he can face the country’s best players.

“Of course, I’ve always wanted to play in the PBA. And just like the locals in Japan, they want to stay in Japan to play there. I think the same thing goes for us Filipinos, so we’re just hoping that opportunity comes again,” he said in Noli Eala’s Power and Play program on Radyo Singko.

“We’re hoping that after we’re all done with our stints overseas, we could come back and play in the PBA,” he added.

Ramos, who was supposed to play for Ateneo in the UAAP, last week announced that he was turning pro after signing with Toyama in the B. League.

He became the eighth Filipino player in Japan after Thirdy (San-En) and Kiefer Ravena (Shiga), Ray Parks Jr. (Nagoya), Kobe Paras (Niigata), Javi (Ibaraki Robots) and Juan Gomez de Liaño (Earthfriends Tokyo Z) and Kemark Cariño (Aomori Wat’s).

Ramos said his decision to take his talents to the B. League, for now, is due to the uncertainty of the situation in the Philippines brought by the COVID-19 pandemic compared to a more stable one in Japan.

When the time comes, he will go back to the drawing board and plot his next steps – including a possible PBA stint.

“My mind is on this next season coming up for me, because that’s obviously what’s next. But then after this season, that’s when I’ll start thinking about what’s going to happen for me after that. Whether that’s the PBA or it’s another league, I’ll just have to weigh my options again,” he said.