The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) are trying to innovate in order to help bring excitement to the agmes, which could lead to more fans and viewers. One of the things that they did in its 49th season is introduce the four-point line.
Meralco Bolts guard Chris Banchero made history by making the PBA’s first four-point shot in an official game last 18 August 2024 against the Magnolia Hotshots. This was followed by another four-point bank shot from fellow Bolts Jolo Mendoza to help the Meralco win the game.
However, do you know that there were more unusual innovations that were planned before than the four-point shot?
During the time of Noli Eala as Commissioner, he proposed "3-point dunk" for the 2006-07 season. As wild as it sounds, he was actually serious about it. Eala even adopted the rule during the April 2007 PBA All-Star Game in Baguio City
The proposal proposal drew criticism from most PBA coaches and basketball purists, who believe that the league should focus on rules applicable to the international game.
"Best ideas are the craziest ones. We said why not because for sure they studied it for marketing purposes. But there’s the risk of mishandling it if it’s implemented right away," said one of the coaches at that time who refused to be identified.
"It’s worth considering, but I’m worried because we coaches also have a big responsibility to grassroots players. With this innovation, we may teach young players to dunk but forget the art of shooting," he added.
Eala discussed the matter with then coaches Chot Reyes of San Miguel Beer, Alfrancis Chua of Sta. Lucia, Yeng Guiao of Red Bull, Tim Cone of Alaska, Ryan Gregorio of Purefoods, Jong Uichico of Ginebra, Binky Favis of Coca-Cola, Bo Perasol of Air21 and Caloy Garcia and Alex Compton of Welcoat over lunch.
The coaches raised concerns and issues over the innovation being proposed. After the three-hour meeting, the consensus was the deferment of its implementation.
Eala was disbarred by the Suppreme Court on 1 August 2007 for engaging in an affair wth a married woman and by violating his lawyer's oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws.
This resulted in the PBA board, during an emergency meeting on 7 August 2007, voting 5-3 to sack Eala as commissioner. On the same day, Eala announced his resignation from his post due to the circumstances of his disbarment case.
The league appointed former PBA executive director Sonny Barrios to act as interim commissioner pending an election. On 17 January 2008, Barrios was named new PBA commissioner by the board (after Chito Salud and Lambert Santos did not get enough votes) until 2009.
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