The Japan-bound Gomez de Liano brothers are hoping that the PBA will revisit its controversial rule that hands severe punishment to players who decide to skip the draft in the first two years of their eligibility.
“I hope they change it in the near future,” Juan Gomez de Liano said when he and his brother Javi were interviewed by former PBA commissioner Noli Eala on the latter’s program Power and Play.
“At the end of the day, this is just for personal growth and trying to maximize our full potential not just as a player but as a person,” added Juan, who joins the B.League second division club Earthfriends Tokyo Z despite still being eligible to play with University of the Philippines in the UAAP.
Javi, who’s also skipping his remaining year at the Diliman campus to play for the newly-promoted first division side Ibaraki Robots, is aware of the consequences of the so-called “Draft Dodger” rule that angered local cage fans.
It would be recalled that Thirdy Ravena, the first Filipino player to suit up for a Japanese club when he played last season for the San-En Neophoenix, had to write the PBA to explain the decision to play abroad instead of entering the draft.
The PBA is also dealing with the controversy surrounding Kiefer Ravena’s decision to sign with the Shiga Lakestars despite a live contract with the NLEX Road Warriors.
But for now, Javi would rather focus on trying to do his best with Ibaraki and possibly have a longer career overseas.
“I’m aware of that (PBA rule), but in my end I always tell myself that I really wanna work hard to play abroad,” Javi said. “As an athlete, that’s my mindset to play hangga’t saan kaya.
“Pero let’s say na I get banned in the future, I really don’t know. Only time will tell.”
Juan also said that the overseas stint doesn’t mean that a future PBA stint won’t materialize.
“Kami naman ni Javi, we would love to end up playing in the PBA and we hope one day makarating kami dyan. We have a lot of idols there and we respect the league so much. We grew up here in the Philippines, we grew up watching the PBA.
“But as of now, to be honest the opportunity (to play in Japan) was really a no brainer,” Juan concluded.