Players of reigning PBA Philippine Cup champion TNT Tropang Giga will be reinforcing Gilas Pilipinas in the February window of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers.
According to the PBA website, Gilas head coach and TNT mentor Chot Reyes presented the plan to league officials in an online meeting.
A number of Gilas cadets who played in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers are unavailable as they are committed to teams abroad.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said the league will adjust TNT's schedule in the resumption of the Governors' Cup on Feb. 11 to give the national team time to prepare for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers
"Coach Chot doesn't want to disrupt PBA. So his plan is to inject TNT players in Gilas for the qualifiers set in the last week of February," he said.
"What we would do now is to adjust our schedule to accommodate the request. We'll let TNT play immediately in the Governors' Cup resumption, four to five games, so when the FIBA qualifiers come, the TNT players are already free," he added.
If things fall into place, Smart Araneta Coliseum will host the games where Gilas will face South Korea on Feb. 24, India on Feb. 25, and New Zealand on Feb. 27.
