THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) hopes to start its 46th Season on June 15, according to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel governor Alfrancis Chua.

Chua, together with league commissioner Willie Marcial, sat down in a meeting with Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea in Malacañang last week, appealing for the PBA to start its games under a closed-circuit setup.

“We are thinking of June 15 (opening),” Chua, who is also the sports director of the San Miguel Corporation group, said in ‘The Chasedown.’

Last Friday, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases gave PBA teams a go-signal to begin full scrimmages in areas under general community quarantine and modified general community quarantine.

Marcial bared in a press conference also on Friday the league eyes to have

its teams start practicing by May 18 under a closed-circuit bubble setup with strict protocols in place.

The Batangas City Coliseum, Batangas State University Gym and the Lyceum of the Philippines University Batangas Gym will serve as training venues for most of the teams, said Marcial, while other teams plan to have their training north of Manila.

Chua said a clean — which means little to no players testing positive for Covid-19 — one month of training is crucial for the PBA, as it tries to convince the government to finally start the season which has been delayed for weeks now.

“Every PBA team knows how hard it was for us to be given the green light to start the 5-on-5 practices. We don’t want to just practice. Of course, we want to play official games. We have to prove to them [concerned government agencies] we’re training with no one being infected [with Covid-19] so we can get the permission to start the season.

“It’s all up to us now. Teams should not relax. We need to be stricter. If we want to stay and play the game, we need to follow what is right. Let’s not waste this opportunity.”

Marcial said a significant decline of Covid-19 cases in the country is still needed for the PBA to start its proposed closed-circuit setup season, as he admitted the league can no longer mount a full-bubble setup, like the one it did in the 2020 Philippine Cup in Pampanga, due to the financial and mental burden it posts.

Marcial is set to discuss the training protocols with the coaches, players and managers of the league this week.