Macau Black Bears eye PBA Season 50 guest spot; Coach Kelly set to bring “monster duo”

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), the country’s most popular sports league, continues to draw hundreds of thousands of fans and proudly holds the distinction of being the first professional basketball league in Asia and the second-oldest in the world after the National Basketball Association (NBA).

With commissioner Willie Marcial at the helm, the PBA has been exploring ways to elevate the league further, including the admission of foreign guest teams to enhance competitiveness. Among the squads reportedly eyeing participation in PBA Season 50 are the Macau Black Bears, a Chinese team competing in the ASEAN Basketball League. Marcial earlier revealed that Macau operations president Lukas Peng had expressed interest in fielding the team as a guest entry in both the Commissioner’s Cup and the Governors’ Cup.

Should the plan push through, Black Bears head coach Garrett Kelly confirmed that he intends to bolster the roster by adding his top performers, Damian Chong Qui and Phoenix Shackelford. Both players are of Asian heritage, and Kelly described them as his “monster duo” and “highest-level IQ players.”

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“I will take those best core players anywhere in the world who play the game. Honestly, we love the Philippines. I love the passion for basketball. I love it here. I feel like I’m a Filipino now, watching how they love basketball from anybody in this country. They should embrace Damian as one of their own as well – he is a monster. Not looking forward, but I hope that we follow through,” Kelly said during a media interaction.

Kelly is also hoping to include 7-foot-6 center Samuel Deguara in the lineup, though this would depend on whether the PBA enforces a height limit for imports.

“As far as Sam, it gives him a really unique style of play. If we have Sam and Damian, it will be hard to find a good lineup in the world. But I do not know how the PBA works as they have different cups, height limits and stuff. I do not know if they have limits on seven-foot-five or more, because Sam would not be able to play,” he added.

While the Macau Black Bears have expressed full readiness to join the league, PBA officials have yet to finalize which foreign teams will serve as guest participants in the next two conferences.

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