Either you support or you are against Thirdy Ravena's decision to join Japan B League, I am pretty sure you are intrigued to see him play there.
By deciding to join a foreign league, it is now pretty clear that Thirdy will not be able to take part in a PBA draft this year, assuming one will happen.
That means he will be under a rule commonly called now as the Bobby Ray Parks rule, where amateur players will be banned from joining the PBA draft if it will not join it for two straight years after finishing his college basketball career.
That rule though is quite interesting because it is for players who are not even under the umbrella of the league. Commissioner Willie Marcial said that Thirdy talked to him about it and was asked to file a letter about it.
So, the PBA just expanded their control beyond the PBA contracts. The potential of having some legal issues in the future for the league is real.
Now, the reason why the rule was enacted was to prevent players from waiting for their preferred franchises to have the right pick to take them in the right draft. So in a way, this proved the rumors in the past that some of the big names postponed their entry until the franchise/conglomerates that they want to play for can drat them.
Instead of getting to the root of the problem, the PBA decided to control things that they should not actually touch.
How about facing the real problem. Why are those players motivated to wait and postpone their entry to the league in the past? Of course, because of financial reasons. Although, that should not be the case because there is a maximum salary for rookies and all the franchises in the league are capable of giving it.
Just like the case of Bobby Ray Parks Jr. Blackwater offered him the three-years maximum but he settled for one-season.
Why? Because other franchises can give more than that. That is the biggest problem of the league.
Actually, I really think that is the reason why the PBA is on the downtrend. It is the reason why other much younger leagues in Asia can be debated to have better quality.
Restricting amateurs from spreading their wings will not solve that. It is time to tackle the issues, under the table.
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