Jamaica Basketball Association President Paulton Gordon hopes the recently concluded P.H.A.S.E 1 Elite 1 Caribbean Basketball League at the National Arena in Kingston will revitalize interest in the sport locally.

“Well, I’m hoping that it gives it a shot in the arm,” Gordon said in an interview with Sportsmax.TV on Saturday.

“Coming out of the pandemic, we wanted an activity that would stimulate interest and create more awareness as it relates to basketball and I think this will do it,” he added.

The league was the first of its kind to be played in the Caribbean and Gordon says he’s glad that Jamaica was able to be a part of history.

“Bringing pro basketball to Jamaica has always been our intention. We decided that we’d try to do a pilot during the summer and, based on the feedback, I think we have accomplished most of our objectives,” he said.

“The players are excited; the fans are coming out and entertainment around the games has been good. We’ve gotten good feedback as it relates to the packaging and production of the event from overseas and I think we’re on our way,” he added.

With the presence of both North American and local players in the teams, Gordon says he’s also encouraged by the lack of a skill gap between the two sets of players.

“I had some discussions with some of the coaches and some of the GMs. What I’m happy about is that there isn’t a big disparity between the North American players and our local players. The teams have integrated quite well and, just looking on, there’s not much difference you can see between the skill level of the overseas players and our local players,” he said.