Philippine Basketball Association

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in

the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the
first professional basketball league in Asia and is the second-oldest continuously operating
professional basketball league in the world after North America's NBA.[1][note 1]
The league played its first game at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on April 9, 1975,[1] and its
regulations are a hybrid of rules from the NBA and FIBA. As of 2022–23, the PBA season consists of
three tournaments known as "conferences": the Philippine Cup (June to September),
the Commissioner's Cup (September to January), and the Governors' Cup (January to April). The
Commissioner's and Governors' Cups allow each team to sign a single foreign player known as an
"import". Meanwhile, the Philippine Cup is exclusive for Filipino players and is considered the most
prestigious of the three conferences. Although the three conferences have minor variations in format
and rules, each consists of a single round-robin elimination round followed by playoffs to determine
the champion. The winners of the conference cups do not face each other at the end of the season
to determine the season champion; instead, each conference champion team are considered PBA
champions. The achievement of a team winning all three conferences in a season is called
the Grand Slam.
The San Miguel Beermen are the most successful team with a total of 29 championships, including a
Grand Slam in 1989. They have also won the most titles in each of the current conferences: 10
Philippine Cups, 5 Commissioner's Cups, and 5 Governors' Cups. Meanwhile, the defunct Crispa
Redmanizers won the most Grand Slams with two.
As of 2022–23, the PBA earned ₱200 million in net revenue and had an average television audience
of 4 million per game.[3] The PBA also has an official developmental league, the PBA D-League.

History[edit]
Founding[edit]

Ms. PBA, Mia Montemayor tosses the ceremonial ball between

Mariwasa's Cisco Oliver and Concepcion's Ramon Lucindo during the opening ceremonies of the
Philippine Basketball Association on April 9, 1975. Looking on are PBA commissioner Leo Prieto and PBA
president Emerson Coseteng. The first PBA logo primarily used from 1975 to
1988. The logo is currently being used for the league's marketing materials since 2017.
The Philippine Basketball Association was founded when nine teams left the now-defunct Manila
Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA), which was tightly controlled by
the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), the FIBA-recognized national association at the
time.[4] With the BAP controlling the MICAA, the league was de jure amateur, as players were only
paid allowances. This is much like what was done in other countries to circumvent the amateur
requirement and to play in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments such as the Olympics. MICAA team
owners were not pleased with how BAP (then led by Gonzalo "Lito" Puyat) were taking away their
players to join the national team without consulting them first.[5] On January 23, 1975, Mariwasa-
Noritake Porcelainmakers' team owner, Emerson Coseteng, together with Carrier
Weathermakers, Toyota Comets, Seven-Up Uncolas and Presto Ice Cream announced the
formation of the PBA. The Crispa Redmanizers, Royal Tru-Orange, Tanduay Distillery, and
the U/Tex Weavers later joined the upcoming professional league. Leopoldo Prieto, the coach for the
Philippines at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, was appointed as the first commissioner and Coseteng
was chosen as the first president of the league's Board of Governors.[6] The first game of the league
was held at the Araneta Coliseum on April 9, 1975, featuring Mariwasa-Noritake and Concepcion
Carrier.