The ABL

I may be going out on a limb here, but I actually think the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is the best pro league in town right now.

I say that in comparison with the PBA and the MPBL.

The ABL, for me, represents at least in terms of framework, the ideal scenario for a professional basketball league in Asia/Southeast Asia.

We have teams from all over the continent that have, generally speaking, focused and dedicated fan bases and who are genuine representatives of the people or places from where they come.

From having just six teams in its first season in 2009, the ABL has now grown to 10 teams and though some clubs have pulled out, the league has expanded beyond the initial scope of the ASEAN region into East Asia, with teams from Hong Kong (HK Eastern), Macau (The Black Bears), Taiwan (Formosa Dreamers) and China (Zhuhai Wolf Warriors).

Right now, the also ABL counts Indonesia’s CLS Knights, Thailand’s Mono Vampire, Vietnam’s Saigon Heat, Singapore Slingers, Westports Malaysia Dragons and our very own San Miguel Alab Pilipinas.

What I love about the ABL is, aside from bringing together so many different cultures and countries through basketball, it is also able to pull off the actual home-and-away format.

That, of course, is no mean feat. The defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) tried the home-and-away format during its heyday, but production costs just soared. Right now, the MPBL is toying with a similar concept, though their framework isn’t, strictly speaking home-and-away like it’s done in the NBA and ABL.

I love how the ABL is able to really bring basketball to the “fringe” countries of the sport, especially since in most of the country-members of the ABL, basketball is second to football as the top national pastime.

In comparison, here in the Philippines where basketball is, without a doubt No. 1, the PBA and other current or defunct pro or semi-pro leagues have struggled a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, of course the PBA is still popular and the MPBL is gaining ground, but as far as passion for basketball and, more importantly, passion for nearly every basketball team in its league, the ABL, in my view, remains unparalleled.

In nearly every ABL game, the stands would be packed and the energy of the fans is palpable.

That, sadly, cannot be said for majority of games in the PBA, which, on paper, should really be the best basketball offering in the country.

The MPBL, for its part, also has a lot of games where crowds have filled the stands, but frankly speaking the level of competition in the MPBL is lower compared to what we can find in the PBA and ABL.

I also love how the ABL has a real offseason — an offseason where fans are “allowed to miss” their hardcourt idols and rekindle their anticipation for the next season. The ABL doesn’t over-engage the basketball palette of its fans. Parallel to other top basketball leagues around the globe — the NBA, the Euroleague, China’s CBA — the ABL has a clear sequence of regular season, playoffs and offseason that allows its teams and players time to recover and breathe. And unobstructed time to play for their national teams as well!

The ABL, despite being just in its ninth season, can already offer some things that our own local leagues, especially the PBA, can learn from and that, in my book, makes the ABL arguably the best pro league in town right now.