By Adrian Stewart Co
Ilonggo guard Kiefer Ravena assured that he will return to the NLEX Road Warriors in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after his one season stint with the Shiga Lakestars in Japan B.League.
The former Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles star said he is thankful to the Road Warriors, to the PBA and its Board of Governors for finally allowing him to fulfill his commitment with the Lakestars.
“I would like to give a big thank you to the PBA for allowing me to join the Shiga Lakestars this season. I would also like to say thank you to the NLEX Road Warriors for their support from Day One and during this ordeal,” Ravena said.
“I also want to apologize for any hurt feelings and stress this has caused the PBA and to my team. I’ll be back next year to suit up for the NLEX Road Warriors and play in front of our home fans,” added the Iloilo City-native guard.
Road Warriors official Ronald Dulatre seconded Ravena as he said that the Ilonggo guard has signed an agreement with NLEX and the PBA that he will be back in the league next year.
“We signed an agreement that part of his commitment is to return to NLEX after one year,” said Dulatre. “May mga sanction na sinabi ako kay Kiefer kapag hindi siya bumalik.”
The 27-year-old Ravena also said that he is very much excited to join the Lakestars after the Road Warriors campaign in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup as it was like representing the country in the B.League.
“I’m very much excited to wave the Philippine flag and prove that Filipinos can play in the B.League,” said Ravena. “I also want to fulfill my dream of playing in the international leagues.”
Last June, the Lakestars announced on its website the acquisition of Ravena under Japan B.League’s Asian Player Quota rule but the PBA initially thumbed it down due to his existing contract with the Road Warriors.
Ravena is one of the many Filipino players who were signed up to play in the B.League aside from younger brother Thirdy Ravena (SanEn NeoPhoenix), Juan Gómez de Liaño (Earth Friends Tokyo Z), Javier Gómez de Liaño (Ibaraki Robots), and Kemark Carino (Aomori Wat)./ASC, WDJ