The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) will give fans a sense of nostalgia as it plans to hold a playdate on the day of its 50th anniversary.
As a treat for loyal supporters, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial bared that they are working out on pitting San Miguel Beer and Meralco while wearing their retro jerseys on 9 April at the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium.
“Like I told you before, we’re planning to go retro. I’ll talk to the teams and we might hold a game or two at Rizal Memorial. We’re talking with Rizal (management),” Marcial said Wednesday night during Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We are now planning to pair San Miguel and Meralco wearing their retro jerseys. That’s the PBA’s plan for April 9.”
The Beermen are the only pioneering franchise left in the league. It carried the banner of Royal Tru-Orange when Asia’s first play-for-pay basketball league opened shop back on 9 April 1975 at the Big Dome.
Although they only joined the PBA in 2010, the Bolts have a long, colorful history in Philippine basketball as a member of the defunct Manila Industrial Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA).
Marcial also mentioned the possibility of making the anniversary playdate a double-header.
“Let’s see if we’ll have a first game. We’ll still have talks with (broadcast partner) TV5,” Marcial said.
As part of its golden anniversary celebration, the league will add 10 more names for the PBA 50 Greatest Players which will be introduced on 11 April.
A special panel led by former PBA commissioner Reunald “Sonny” Barrios with former distinguished players, broadcasters and sportswriters as members have already met to discuss the 10 names that will be added to the list of greatest players.
The body had already met twice to nominate and justify their choices for the latest additions to the elite list.