Philippine Basketball Association
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- This article is not about the Basketball Association of the Philippines.
- For other uses of PBA, see PBA
| Philippine Basketball Association | |
|---|---|
| Image:Pbalogo league.gif | |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Founded | 1975 |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country | Image:Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines |
| Current champions | Red Bull Barako (Fiesta) and Purefoods Chunkee Giants (Philippine) |
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a professional basketball league in the Philippines founded in 1975. It is the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia and the second oldest existing professional basketball league in the world after the United States' National Basketball Association (NBA). The league's rules are patterned after the FIBA and the National Basketball Association.
Contents |
[edit] Season format
From 1975-2003, a season was usually composed of three (named All Filipino, Commissioner's and Governors from 1993) conferences (tournaments). Each conference usually ended in a best-of-7 Finals series match wherein the winner takes the Conference Cup. If the same team wins all of the conferences, the team is said to be the "Grand Slam" champion.
In 2004, Commissioner Noli Eala introduced drastic changes to the season calendar. He reduced the number of conferences from three to two and changed the start of the season from February to October, so that the league can accommodate international tournaments that were frequently held from June to September. Another reason for the change in schedule was the popularity of college hoops, the NCAA and the UAAP, whose basketball season runs from June to October each year.
The first tournament is the Fiesta Conference, which is held from October to February the following year, teams are allowed to field one foreign player called an ("import"). The second tournament is the Philippine Cup, held from March to June, where only locals are allowed to play. The Philippine Cup is identical to the All-Filipino Conference of the previous seasons. The rookie draft is usually held every July.
[edit] Teams
[edit] Current teams
| Name | Season joined | Team colors | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air21 Express | 2002 | Indigo and white | Airfreight 2100, Inc. |
| Alaska Aces | 1986 | Red and white | Alaska Milk Corporation |
| Barangay Ginebra Kings | 1979 | Red and white | Ginebra San Miguel, Inc.* |
| Coca-Cola Tigers | 2002 | Red and white | Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc.* |
| Purefoods Chunkee Giants | 1988 | Blue, red and white | San Miguel-Purefoods Co., Inc.* |
| Red Bull Barako | 2000 | Red, yellow and white | Photokina Marketing Corporation |
| San Miguel Beermen | 1975-1985, 1987 | Crimson and white | San Miguel Corporation |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | 1993 | Green and white | Sta. Lucia Realty |
| Talk N' Text Phone Pals | 1990 | Yellow and blue | Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company |
| Welcoat Dragons | 2006-07 | Midnight blue and white | Asian Coatings Philippines |
[edit] Defunct teams
The most prominent defunct teams are the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Super Corollas. For a complete list, see List of defunct Philippine Basketball Association teams.
[edit] Guest teams
- UBC Thunderbirds (Canada) (2004 PBA Fiesta Conference)
- U.S. Mail and More Pro-Am Selection (U.S.A.) (2004 PBA Fiesta Conference)
- Yonsei University (South Korea) (2003 Invitational)
- Magnolia Jilin Tigers (China) (2003 Invitational)
- Novi Sad Amateur Selection (Yugoslavia) (2003 Invitational)
- Northern Consolidated (1985 PBA Reinforced Conference Champions)
- Philippine national basketball team (On various occasions, 1984-2003)
- Emtex (Brazil) (1977)
- Ramrod (Australia) (1977)
- Nicholas Stoodley (U.S.A.) (1980 PBA Invitational Champions)
- Adidas (France) (1980)
- Nicholas Stoodley (South Korea) (1982)
[edit] Important people
[edit] Commissioners
- Leopoldo Prieto (1975-1983)
- Col. Mariano Yenko, Jr. (1983-1985)
- Atty. Rodrigo Salud (1985-1992)
- Reynaldo Marquez (1992-1993)
- Emilio Bernardino, Jr. (1993-2002)
- Atty. Jose Emmanuel Eala (2003-Present)
[edit] Players
Most of the league's present star players are also members of Philippine national team. Within a 30-year historical period, Filipino basketball fans have seen the likes of Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Alvin Patrimonio, Vergel Meneses and Danny Ildefonso take centerstage. Ramon "El Presidente" Fernandez and Alvin "The Captain" Patrimonio are prominent names, as they are the only players to win four Most Valuable Player awards.
On the other hand, Vergel "The Aerial Voyager" Meneses is the only player to win four All-Star MVP awards while "Demolition Man" Danny Ildefonso is the only player to have won five Philippine Basketball Association Best Player of the Conference Awards.
[edit] Individual awards and honors
The league awards the MVP award since 1975 and the Rookie of the Year award since 1976. Other lesser awards are handed at the end of the season; the Best Player and Best Import of the Conference awards are handed out at the end of the conferences.
[edit] PBA champions
The San Miguel Beermen currently is the winningest team, with 17 championships. Among disbanded teams, the Crispa Redmanizers have the most championships, with 13, while rival Toyota Super Corollas ended with 9.
[edit] Rivalries
Team encounters are a natural phenomenon in the PBA, and this sometimes results in soaring ticket sales. The most famous matchup was the Crispa-Toyota rivalry of the 1970s. Fans faithfully supported their favorite squads, and had appeared in the multitudes at the Araneta Coliseum, or wherever the archrivals had met. In those days, the players were very passionate. On one occasion, they had engaged in a major brawl. Players from both clubs were arrested and detained for one night in jail.
Other famous contests include:
- Crispa vs Great Taste
- Ginebra vs Purefoods (late-1980s rivalry, both are now sister teams)
- Añejo/Ginebra vs Shell (early-1990s rivalry)
- Añejo vs San Miguel Beer (late-1980s rivalry)
- Ginebra/Gordon's Gin vs Alaska (late-1990s rivalry)
- Ginebra vs Red Bull (current rivalry as both teams met numerous times in the playoffs)
- Purefoods vs Red Bull (2005-06, both teams met twice in the Finals)
- Talk n' Text/Mobiline vs. Ginebra (perhaps the most watched match-up in 2004 and 2005.)
[edit] TV coverage
These are the TV coverors of the PBA since the 1975 season:
- PBA on KBS 2 (1975-1981)
- PBA on Vintage Sports (1982-1999)
- PBA on Viva TV (2000-2002)
- PBA on NBN/IBC (2003)
- PBA on ABC (2004-present)
[edit] Current season
[edit] External links
| Basketball in the Philippines | |
|---|---|
| Philippines national basketball team Philippine Centennial Team • Philippines Dream Team • San Miguel Philippines | |
| Federations | BAP • PB • SBP |
| Professional leagues | PBA • NBC • MBA |
| Amateur leagues | PBL • MVBA • CBF • URBL • MICAA |
| Collegiate leagues | Metro Manila: CUSA • NAASCU • NCAA • NCAA South • NCRAA • UAAP • UCAA • WNCAA |
| Luzon: BEAL • NECUAA • UCAP | |
| Visayas: CESAFI • ISAA • NOPSSCEA | |
| Mindanao: PRISAA | |
| Off-season: CCL • HAIL • Homegrown Cup | |
| Men's champions • Team nicknames | |
