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If Kiefer Ravena plays in Japan past 2023, he waits 3 years before suiting up in PBA again

If Kiefer Ravena plays in Japan past 2023, he waits 3 years before suiting up in PBA again

BACK IN JAPAN. Kiefer Ravena reunites with a Shiga side looking to bounce back from a woeful B. League campaign last season.

Japan B. League

Kiefer Ravena has until September 2023 to return to the PBA or he will have to wait three more years before he can see action in the league again

MANILA, Philippines – If NLEX star guard Kiefer Ravena ever wants an immediate return to the PBA, he has to do so within the next year – by September 2023 to be exact.

By renewing his contract with Japan B. League squad Shiga Lakes – formerly known as the Lakestars – on Monday, August 8, Ravena faces a potential PBA-imposed sit-out period. A “sit-out” bars a player from suiting up with a PBA team for a fixed period.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said the Gilas Pilipinas standout has until September 2023 to sign with the Road Warriors or he will have to wait three more years before he can see action in the pro league again.

“He can play after three years,” said Marcial. The three years the PBA honcho was referring to is part of the five-year sit-out period the pro league adopted last year for free agents who disregard standing offers to them by their mother teams.

The rule states that if a player fails to return to the PBA within two years, he has to complete the five-year sit-out period.

When the league gave Ravena the go signal to suit up for Shiga last year, they struck an agreement that he would go back to the PBA after just one season in Japan.

Break that pact and the PBA will sanction Ravena.

Ravena returned to the Philippines looking to sign a one-conference deal with NLEX, but the two sides failed to land a contract as the Road Warriors wanted him to stay for an entire season.

NLEX went on to finish its Philippine Cup campaign without Ravena, who spent the last couple of months with the national team, seeing action in the Southeast Asian Games and FIBA Asia Cup.

Ravena reunites with a Shiga side that seeks to bounce back after compiling a 14-43 record in the B. League last season.

He averaged 13.2 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.5 rebounds in his first B. League campaign. – Rappler.com