Two smaller professional basketball leagues in the Philippines, the PBL and Liga Philippines, are in talks to combine their leagues according to reports.

(Talk the league mergers and Philippines Basketball in our forum)

“We’re looking at the relevance of the merger in the Philippine basketball landscape,” said PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad. “If the two leagues become one, will it become more vibrant? It does not follow that if the merger becomes a reality, it will indeed be stronger. So we’re carefully looking at the rationale behind the merger.”

“We think that the two leagues can work together,” Trinidad added after his initial talks with representatives of the PBA and Liga Pilipinas yesterday.

“Liga will retain its personality as a regional league, while the PBL will also retain its own personality as a developmental league,” added Trinidad. “Even the PBA stands to benefit (from the merger).”

“We complement each other,” said Alvarez. “We can have some PBA teams adopt PBL and Liga teams. We can lend some of our assistant coaches or even our excess players, for them to have a decent exposure.”

The two leagues are not to be confused with the PBA, which is the most-recognized league in the Philippines. The PBA is the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia, boasting 11 teams and most all the players from the Filipino National Team.