The PBA is looking once again to provide a platform for the Filipina hoopers in the country.

League Commissioner Willie Marcial bared at the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday, August 8, that the PBA are in talks to hold a 3×3 tournament for women. 

“May kausap ako three months ako, 3×3 na babae,” he revealed.

Marcial said that since becoming the PBA Commissioner in 2018, he has always wanted to hold a league for professional women’s basketball players.

“Nasa table pa, pero ‘yun din ang sinabi ko nung kakapasok ko pa lang na mag-develop para sa mga babae. Ongoing ‘yung talks namin, so sana matuloy,” he said.

The PBA had a women’s 3×3 league during its 2015-2016 season, wherein the 12 teams of the league fielded three-on-three squads of their own.

The games were held adjacent to the three conferences of the PBA, wherein Blackwater got the Philippine Cup 3×3 title, NLEX topped the Commissioner’s Cup 3×3 title, and then-Globalport won the Governors’ Cup 3×3 title.

After that season, the league did not return for a second one. 

Since then, women’s basketball has been on a steady rise, with the Gilas Pilipinas Women winning back-to-back gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games and, more recently, notching their first-ever win in Division A of FIBA Asia. 

Creating a sustainable professional league for female players has not been easy, though recently strides have been made as far as 3×3 competitions are concerned. 

Notably, Red Bull Half Court held a women’s tournament wherein Uratex emerged triumphant, and two local teams also saw action in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL WKBL 3×3 Triple Jam last June. 

Three teams also competed in the maiden leg of the Asia Tour 3×3 last April. (ABS-CBN News)