THE Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) targets an Independence Day opening for its new season, according to commissioner Kenneth Duremdes.
“We had a virtual meeting with some MPBL stakeholders and we set a June 12 opening date for our fourth season—but that’s dependent on the pandemic situation,” Duremdes told BusinessMirror on Wednesday.
Duremdes bared that 19 of the 31 teams from last season’s roster have so far confirmed their participation for the coming season.
The MPBL completed its 2020 season with two semifinals and five championship games in a bubble at the Subic Bay Freeport gym with the Davao Occidental Cocolife Tigers dethroning the San Juan Knights, 89-88, in Game 5 of the Finals over the weekend.
Duremdes said the MPBL remains vigilant over the spike of virus cases during the past weeks.
“The first challenge before we open the new season is for the teams finding their respective practice venues in area under GCQ [general community quarantine,” he said.
Duremdes said that the league’s stakeholders have yet to establish a name for its new season, but stressed the format would practically remain the same with all teams in the North and South divisions facing each other at least once in the eliminations.
The home-and-away format, Duremdes said, is out of the picture because of the pandemic with the league preferring the same bubble setup in Subic.
