The Philippine Basketball Association kicks off its 48th season with the 2023 On Tour that features all 12 member teams playing in preseason games around the country starting on May 21.
NLEX takes on Blackwater in the lone opening game at the Caloocan Sports Complex - just one of several new locations to host PBA games.
The series of exhibition matches that runs until July 30 serves as the preseason as the league gives way to the training of Gilas Pilipinas for the Southeast Asian Games, FIBA World Cup, and Asian Games.
The tour allows each of the 12 member teams to bring in their regular players, and invite free agents as well as rookie aspirants for the 2023 PBA Draft scheduled this September.
League commissioner Willie Marcial explained that the PBA On Tour will be held in select provinces and basketball venues in Metro Manila to make the games more accessible to basketball fans.
Each PBA ball club will play a total of 11 games in a series of exhibition matches where the pro league is also set to roll out some of the proposed new game rules.
PBA on Tour will be played every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, with out-of-town sorties also scheduled on Saturdays. All games will be shown at One Sports on Cignal TV.
"Hinto ang regular games pero ilalaro natin itong mga larong ito para ipakita pa rin natin ang mga players and teams natin sa fans. Kasamang mapapanood nila ang mga possible rookies sa parating na PBA season," said Marcial in a statement posted at the league's website.
Teams will be allowed to list 17 players with 16 to play per game.
"Rookie aspirants can see action but they can only play for one team in this PBA on Tour series," he added.
The PBA's Season 48 won't open until October to give way to Gilas Pilipinas, which will have a loaded schedule that begins on May 9 when the national team begins its men's basketball title redemption in the Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
After the SEA Games, the national men's basketball team under coach Chot Reyes is expected to ramp up its buildup for the FIBA World Cup in June before plunging into action in late August as the Philippines serves as co-host of the world's biggest basketball tournament.
Gilas' last international tournament from there will be the Asian Games which will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8.
The PBA on Tour will also be played in Dumaguete City, Bulacan, Batangas and Quezon.
