WILLIAM NAVARRO braved on to Korea despite a looming PBA ban on players joining other leagues.
Mr. Navarro on Wednesday plunged into the training camp right away of his newest club Busan KCC Egis in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), shortly after parting ways with Magnolia and the whipping of PBA’s surprising resolution amidst a new wave of player exodus.
“Fulfilling the dream,” said Mr. Navarro’s agency, the Titan Management Group on his signing.
Mr. Navarro, who met his teammates for the first time in Busan’s first camp in Yongin City near Seoul, is expected to be one of the affected players from PBA’s new ruling, which imposes a three-year ban on players who refused to sign with their mother PBA clubs despite a contract offer to jump ship to other leagues — local or foreign — instead.
The 28-year-old Ateneo stalwart joined with Busan on Tuesday for the 2025-2026 Season albeit the Korean club didn’t disclose the length of the deal. It’s the culmination of his KBL dream after a spoiled stint in 2022 with the Seoul Samsung Thunders to honor contract obligations with original team NorthPort and Gilas Pilipinas as the No. 2 pick in the 2021 special draft.
Also covered in the new rule, which is effective immediately after being approved by the PBA board last month, are rookies not signing the Uniformed Players Contract (UPC) with the teams that drafted them despite a tender offer to join other leagues.
Incoming rookies in this year’s draft slated next month are also included.
The only exemptions from the new rule are players who were not given contract offers during the 30-day grace period after the expiration of their UPC and those considered as unrestricted free agents, who have played a total of seven years in the PBA.
Entering a milestone 50th anniversary in October, the PBA saw another wave of exodus featuring its up-and-coming stars with Mr. Navarro only serving as the latest one.
Mr. Navarro’s move to Korea left the Hotshots, who albeit hold his playing rights in perpetuity in the PBA like other players jumping ship overseas, without any returns from a blockbuster trade in the middle of the just-concluded 2025 PBA Philippine Cup.
Magnolia acquired the 6-foot-6 Mr. Navarro, who has been one of NorthPort’s top players with a double-double average of 20.57 points and 10.57 rebounds but played only five games for the Hotshots, in exchange of Calvin Abueva, Jerrick Balanza and a second-round pick next season.
Mr. Navarro’s former teammate Arvin Tolentino last May also left NorthPort after bagging the Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference plum to sign with the KBL runner-up Seoul SK Knights.
And just last week, Jamie Malonzo parted ways with Barangay Ginebra to sign with the Kyoto Hannaryz in the Japan B.League while he’s in the middle of Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. — John Bryan Ulanday
