THE Philippine Basketball Association will donate a portion of its ticket sales for the duration of the elimination round of the season-ending Governor’s Cup to the victims of the Marawi City conflict.
The league also announced that general admission tickets will be sold at discounted price over the same span.
“The PBA family sympathizes with the victims of the ongoing conflict in Marawi City,” offered league commissioner Chito Narvasa.
“The PBA has a huge fan base in that city and it pains us deeply to know that many lives were lost and many families displaced. On behalf of the PBA Board of Governors, we are setting aside a portion of our ticket sales in the elimination round to help them in their recovery.”
Narvasa said discounted rates on general admission tickets will take effect on Aug. 2.
General admission tickets will be sold only at P30 for the entire elimination round on games played on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and the Mall of Asia Arena.
Meanwhile, in its bid to turn its early woes around, Blackwater called upon a familiar face to backstop the franchise.
The Elite tapped returning import Henry Walker to take the place of mediocre and injured Trevis Simpson for its campaign in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.
Simpson hurt his groin against Star last week, prompting the Elite to find a replacement.
Walker will have tons of load to carry for Blackwater as he is expected to be the team’s go-to guy.
He will have to do a lot in order to turn Blackwater’s fortunes around.
The Elite have lost their first three games and is still in search of a first victory.
Walker, a former NBA player, known as a burly scorer, has proven himself to the league in the past. He is set to arrive in the country today.
He had previous stints with Alaska and NLEX in his prior tour of duties.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra’s LA Tenorio was named the league’s Player of the Week.
The do-it-all point guard scored 29 points last Sunday to lead defending champion Barangay Ginebra to its first win, a 124-108 destruction of GlobalPort.