Players will now have to think twice before skirting the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

In a board resolution passed on 17 July but was only made public late Tuesday, the PBA will now impose a three-year ban on rookies and free agents who will refuse to see action in the league despite the deals being offered by their respective clubs.

Under the rule, a rookie draftee who receives a Uniform Players Contract (UPC) offer but does not sign and instead plays in another league will not be allowed to see action in the PBA for three years, starting from the date the offer was made.

The rights to the player, however, will remain in perpetuity with the team that drafted him, unless traded in accordance with league rules.

Similarly, a player whose UPC has expired and who does not sign a new contract with his mother team — and then joins another league — will be barred from playing in the PBA for three years, counted from the expiration of the previous contract.

If a valid contract offer is extended within the 30-day window after the UPC’s expiration and the player still does not sign, the three-year restriction also applies.

In these cases, the player’s rights will also remain in perpetuity with the mother team.

The league has yet to issue a formal statement as commissioner Willie Marcial is still with Gilas Pilipinas for the 33rd FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah.

The PBA is losing quality players to leagues abroad like the Japan B. League and the Korean Basketball League as well as other domestic leagues like the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.

Aside from young guns like Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto, AJ Edu and Rhenz Abando, PBA standouts like Jamie Malonzo of Barangay Ginebra, Arvin Tolentino of NorthPort and Will Navarro of Magnolia had walked away from PBA deals in favor of luxurious offers in Japan and South Korea.