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PBA: Completion of bubble season is early Christmas gift for commissioner Marcial

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/life/12/10/20201210-pba-commissioner-willie-marcial-co-pba-media-bureau.jpg"/><figcaption>PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial. <em>PBA Media Bureau.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA, Philippines -- It was as if Christmas came early for PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, as he watched the seconds tick down in Game 5 of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup finals series between Barangay Ginebra and TNT Tropang Giga.</p><p>The Gin Kings won the game, 82-78, wrapping up the series and claiming their first All-Filipino title since the 2006-07 season.</p><p>It also marked the end of one of the most unusual -- if not the most unusual -- seasons in the history of the PBA. The Philippine Cup will be the lone conference played this year, after the league was forced to stop for seven months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>The PBA resumed games in October, after several months of planning and coordinating with the national government, the Department of Health (DOH), the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), and the officials of Clark, Pampanga, where the PBA bubble was hosted.</p><p>&quot;Alam mo, ito na ang parang Pasko sa akin,&quot; Marcial said in a televised interview while the Gin Kings celebrated their championship on the court at the Angeles University Foundation Gym.</p><p>&quot;Ito na &#x27;yung December 25 sa akin, pati sa mga PBA. So malaking bagay sa amin, malaking bagay sa akin na naitawid natin ang bubble,&quot; he added.</p><p>It was not an easy operation by any means. A referee and a Blackwater player were both tagged as positive COVID-19 cases before being declared false positives. Games were stopped for four days while the PBA shored up its protocols in coordination with the IATF and the DOH.</p><p>When the league returned to action, teams had to play a compressed schedule as the PBA raced to finish the conference before Christmas. Quadruple-headers became the norm, and teams played back-to-back games, sometimes four games in a week.</p><p>But they finished the season without any more COVID-related incidents, and the remaining members of the PBA delegation -- the Ginebra and TNT teams, the PBA staff, the media personnel -- can return home before Christmas, just as Marcial promised before the restart of the conference.</p><p>For this, the commissioner gave full credit to the coaches and players for how they cooperated and dutifully followed the protocols and guidelines set by the league.</p><p>&quot;Noong nakausap ko sila, humingi ako ng cooperation sa kanila, tapos &#x27;yung mga coaches, so ang laking bagay noon na open communication &#x27;yung dalawa, &#x27;yung mga coaches at &#x27;yung mga players, kaya natuloy &#x27;to,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;At gusto talaga nila &#x27;to… &#x27;yung sakripisyo talaga para sa mga fans,&quot; he added.</p><p>Marcial had a long list of people to thank following the conclusion of the PBA bubble, but in the end his focus was on the fans who waited for the league to return and cheered them on for the duration of the conference.</p><p>&quot;Ito pong sakripisyo namin po, ng players, coaches at PBA family, para talaga po sa inyo,&quot; said Marcial. &quot;Kung kaya po ng PBA, kaya din po niyo. &#x27;Wag kayong mag-alala, makakaraos din tayo dito sa pandemya na &#x27;to.&quot; </p><div><strong>Related video:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GrxXKQ9T2W8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

PBA: Completion of bubble season is early Christmas gift for commissioner Marcial

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PBA: Completion of bubble season is early Christmas gift for commissioner Marcial

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 10, 2020 07:19 PM PHT

Read More:

PBA

2020 PBA Philippine Cup

PBA Bubble

PBA Philippine Cup

Willie Marcial

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