The Manila Times

Ravena, Parks get green light to play in Japan

REY JOBLE

KIEFER Ravena of the NLEX Road Warriors and Ray Parks of the TNT Tropang Giga can play in Japan’s B.League.

On Saturday, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) gave the go signal to Ravena to suit up for the Shiga Lakestars in the B.League, where he signed a one-season contract last month.

NLEX had also given the same approval to Ravena, who signed a three-year contract extension with the Road Warriors in September last year. But following the agreement among the PBA, the NLEX management and Ravena, the high-scoring guard needs to play for his PBA squad until the end of the ongoing Philippine Cup before he can join the Shiga Lakestars.

Also slated to play in the B.League is Ray Parks, who got the approval of the PBA after his mother team, TNT, cleared the former National University Bulldog to play in Japan.

Early this year, TNT management and Parks had some sort of a falling out after the player refused to sign the contract extension offered by the Tropang Giga.

Ravena’s case, however, is a lot more complicated as he signed with the Japanese team even though he has an existing contract with NLEX. But following the approval of NLEX and the PBA, Ravena can now join his younger brother in the B.League.

Thirdy Ravena signed for the San-en Neo Phoenix in the Japanese league last year under its Asian Player Quotas system.

Once his one-season contract with the Shiga Lakestars ends, Ravena will return to the NLEX lineup. Following the new agreement, the player will have to sign a new contract with the Road Warriors once he is back playing in the PBA in a statement released by the team management.

Conditional support

“We understand Kiefer’s pursuit for personal development and the desire to showcase the Filipino brand of basketball overseas by suiting up for the Shiga Lakestars. We gave Kiefer our conditional support in fulfilling his dreams of playing abroad. But as we mentioned earlier, we needed to conduct a deliberate review of his contract before a release could be issued,” wrote the Road Warriors management in a statement posted on its official website.

“The UPC was signed on September 1, 2020 with a term of three years. This UPC is viewed as a tripartite agreement among the team owner, the player and the PBA. And as a member of the PBA family, we remain deeply committed to the policies of the league. Unfortunately, Kiefer’s contract with NLEX was still live when he signed a commitment to play with Shiga Lakestars.”

Ravena is compelled to return as he had given the commitment both to the Road Warriors and the PBA.

Sports

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2021-07-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281719797610988

The Manila Times