IT'S been awhile since the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) had inducted great players into its Hall of Fame.<\/p>\r\r
The last players who were named belong to the Class of 2013 led by the tandem of two-time Most Valuable Player Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc, who joined the late great coach Ed Ocampo, and multi-titled player Lim Eng Beng in the group.<\/p>\r\r
That was 12 years ago and the league has yet to name another batch of inductees since.<\/p>\r\r
A lot of things went on in the PBA in a span of more than a decade. Coaches came and went, players quietly and ceremoniously retired, another grand slam team, squads from San Miguel Corp. dominated the league, erring players cut ties with their mother squads and a bubble tournament at the height of the pandemic.<\/p>\r\r
That is, of course, on top of the league's more active duties in its involvement with the creation of the Gilas Pilipinas national team. Because of its key role in the Philippine men's basketball team's program, the country wasn't just able to bring back the biggest hoop event in the world (FIBA World Cup), but also became successful in regaining the Asian Games crown, which it last won in 1962.<\/p>\r\r
As the PBA prepares for its 50th season next year, much attention is being given focus on the players who will join eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and Scottie Thompson, the only winners of this highest individual plum in the past decade.<\/p>\r\r
There's a strong clamor for great players in the past who were left out in the 40 Greatest Players list, the more notable ones include Nelson Asaytono, the late Arnie Tuadles and his long-time teammate Abe King, Yoyoy Villamin, and players who just retired a few years back like Danny Seigle and Olsen Racela.<\/p>\r\r
But it's also high time for the PBA to pay attention to a new Hall of Fame class.<\/p>\r\r
Unlike in the United States where it enshrines annually players to the Hall of Fame, the PBA has been more careful in selecting players included in this elite group.<\/p>\r\r
Looking at the trend of inductees, key members of the league's grand slam teams \u2014 William \"Bogs\" Adornado, Abet Guidaben, Philip Cezar, Atoy Co, Freddie Hubalde and Bernie Fabiosa from Crispa and Avelino \"Samboy\" Lim and Hector Calma from San Miguel Beer were already enshrined to the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\r\r
So it's only fitting that the league should follow suit in its next Hall of Fame class, which means key members of the Alaska like MVP winner Johnny Abarrientos and Jojo Lastimosa, two players who are already in the all-time greatest list, should be included in the elite cast, along with its resident import, Sean Chambers, who won all six championships playing for the illustrious basketball organization.<\/p>\r\r
Great imports had already joined the finest local players the league has ever produced and such was the case why the late great Bobby Parks, a seven-time Best Import winner, to which the award for best reinforcement is named after, Norman Black and Billy Ray Bates were already included in separate classes.<\/p>\r\r
Parks and Black were named in Class of 2009 while Bates was included in the Class of 2011.<\/p>\r\r
It may sound a long-time coming, but these great players who played for the team of the 1990s, Alaska, should be named sooner than later.<\/p>\r\r
Even Alaska deserves recognition as well for its great contribution to the PBA. The team sold its franchise at the height of the pandemic to Converge, but not after winning 14 titles and playing the role of being the most vocal organization among the independent squads.<\/p>\r\r
The league's Golden Anniversary should be the perfect time to put all these big things together.<\/p>\r\r
Asia's pioneering professional league has faced stiff competition through the years. For many years, the PBA has been considered as the nation's favorite past time, but it seems time has finally caught up with them and the organization composed of the old boys' club has struggled to keep its status as the country's premier source of sports entertainment.<\/p>\r\r
Not any more considered as the final destination of players in the region, the league is doing its darndest best to survive and remain steadfast.<\/p>\r\r
The PBA will have that golden opportunity on its 50th year and as long as it makes the sound decision by naming the more deserving players both for the all-time greatest list and the Hall of Fame, they'll be able to restore that respectability.<\/p>\r\r
I couldn't wait to see The Flying A, The Fourth Quarter Man and Mr. 100 Percent cracking the league's Hall of Fame, but we have to hold our collective breaths if it will come next season.<\/p>","article_custom_fields":"{\"\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_keywords\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_description\":[\"\"],\"seo_meta_title\":[\"\"],\"sponsored_flag\":[\"\"],\"offer_flag\":[\"off\"],\"featured_article_flag\":[\"\"],\"drupal_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":null,\\\"properties\\\":{\\\"PUBLISHED\\\":0,\\\"PROMOTED\\\":0,\\\"STICKY\\\":0},\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"wp_custom_json\":[\"{\\\"type\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"fields\\\":[]}\"],\"article_tags\":[\"\"],\"show_image\":[\"off\"],\"Disable_Ad\":[\"off\"],\"disable_player\":[\"off\"],\"column\":[\"\"],\"kicker\":[\"\"],\"edel\":[\"\"],\"delu\":[\"\"],\"delt\":[\"Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.\"],\"premium\":[\"off\"],\"Redirect_URL\":[\"\"],\"Registration_required\":[\"off\"],\"background_image\":[\"off\"],\"user_needs\":[\"\"],\"page_number\":\"0\",\"initial_publication\":\"\",\"date_created\":\"2024-11-22 21:30:18\",\"date_modified\":\"2024-11-22 21:31:49\",\"last_modified_user\":\"Jorge Pino\",\"section_color\":\"#08F304\",\"target_page\":\"0\",\"cxense_metatags\":null}","cms_type":"live","author_id":1961,"section_id":3,"seo_meta_keywords":"The,Flying,A,,Jolas,and,Sean","seo_meta_description":"","seo_meta_title":"The Flying A, Jolas and Sean","publish_time":"2024-11-23 00:05:00","related_articles_ids":"","article_tags":"","sub_section_id":0,"visit_count":30,"sponsored_flag":0,"offer_flag":0,"featured_article_flag":0,"media_gallery_flag":0,"video_gallery_flag":0,"highlight_flag":0,"top_story_flag":0,"is_updated":0,"is_old_article":0,"old_article_id":0,"article_byline":"Rey Joble","ts":"2024-11-26 00:35:00","last_edited":"2024-11-22 21:31:49","alt_publish_time":"2024-11-22 21:31:54","image_path":"{\\\"image_path\\\":\\\"manilatimes\\\\\/uploads\\\\\/images\\\\\/2024\\\\\/11\\\\\/22\\\\\/473698.jpg\\\",\\\"cms_type\\\":\\\"live\\\",\\\"small_image\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"is_updated\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_cropping\\\":\\\"{\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_original_width\\\\\\\":332,\\\\\\\"image_original_height\\\\\\\":323,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"original_image\\\\\\\"},\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\":{\\\\\\\"image_main_width\\\\\\\":1200,\\\\\\\"image_main_height\\\\\\\":1167,\\\\\\\"icd_image_type\\\\\\\":\\\\\\\"main_image\\\\\\\"}}\\\",\\\"is_copied\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"media_type\\\":\\\"0\\\",\\\"image_caption\\\":\\\"REY JOBLE\\\",\\\"image_alt_text\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"image_count\\\":1}","author_name":"Rey Joble","section_name":"Sports","sub_section_name":"","slide_show":0,"breaking_news":0,"visit_count_update_date":"2024-11-26 00:35:00","old_cms_article_id":null,"permalink":"2024\/11\/23\/sports\/the-flying-a-jolas-and-sean\/2009746","show_image_in_thumb":0,"api_status":2,"a_custom_data":"{\"exclude_from_gallery\":null,\"lead_image_id\":null}","publication_id":2,"max_publish_time":"2024-11-23 00:05:00","page_number":"0","homepage_article_flag":0,"article_shortlink":null,"cropped_image":0};
IT'S been awhile since the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) had inducted great players into its Hall of Fame.
The last players who were named belong to the Class of 2013 led by the tandem of two-time Most Valuable Player Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc, who joined the late great coach Ed Ocampo, and multi-titled player Lim Eng Beng in the group.
