A peek into the history of the PBA

It was a sunny day when the Philippine Basketball Association opened its doors for business. The date was April 9, 1975, when the first game was played. Gregorio "Joy" Dionisio scored the new league's first points. The country was under the yoke of Martial Law but, inside the Araneta Coliseum it was a fiesta. The first professional league outside the United States had just began its enduring love affair with millions of Filipinos.

Frustrated and in conflict with the abrasive clutches of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (B.A.P.), the governing body of Pinoy basketball; nine clubs decided to band together and form the Philippine Basketball Association (P.B.A.). Toyota, Crispa, U-Tex, Royal Tru-Orange, Noritake, Carrier, Tanduay, Presto and Seven-Up were the charter members of the new league.

It was the start of something big and great! Basketball fans came from near and far to witness the action in The Big Dome . Asia's first pro league had embarked on its remarkable journey.

THE SEVENTIES 1975-1979

The 1975 PBA in its first season introduced the now familiar three Conference (tournament) set-up, which has made up every PBA season ever since. Toyota was the first league champion. It was also the second titlist. Toyota won the titles behind the team's core of Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski and Francis Arnaiz. Crispa grabbed the 1975 Third Conference with a vengeance and started a streak of winning the next six conferences. In the process, the Redmanizers took the first-ever Grand Slam in 1976.

There was no competitive balance in the league but, the Toyota-Crispa match-up was perhaps the greatest rivalry in the league's history and captured the interest of fans everywhere.

It was only in 1978, did a team other than Toyota or Crispa win a title. U-Tex Wranglers won the 1978 Second Conference. Crispa did not win a title in the season and Filmanbank, who assumed the Seven-Up franchise, placed second in the All-Filipino. The 1978 season also saw Crispa playing an All Star team from the other clubs and Manila hosting the 1978 World Basketball Championships (WCOB). Toyota beat world powers Yugoslavia and Canada in a pre-tournament and established the competitiveness of the professional Filipino player. Jaworski won the 1978 MVP.

La Tondena, which would become the Jaworski coached Ginebra San Miguel team, joined the league in 1979. Crispa and Toyota reestablished their supremacy. Royal Tru-Orange, coached by the great Olympian, Ed Ocampo, with Otto Moore, standing 6-10, and Larry Pounds won the 2nd Conference Championship. Toyota captured the Third Conference. Atoy Co won MVP honours. The PBA All Stars played the 1979 World Champions NBA, Washington Bullets, at the Araneta.

THE EIGHTIES

The first-ever Conference Championship of the Eighties could be the best-ever title fight in PBA history. U-Tex came back in the final game of the five game series. The Wranglers were down by four with only 16 seconds remaining and snatched the 1980 Open Conference crown from a stunned Toyota squad in overtime. An American team, Nicholas Stoodley, with Larry Pounds, Larry Moffett, and Kenny Tyler won the 1980 Invitationals. The season saw the overwhelming display Crispa took in capturing the All-Filipino Championship. The Redmanizers won 19 straight and lost only one game all Conference. Tefilin and Galleon Shipping joined the party.

In 1981, the PBA season was noted for its only two Conferences because of the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Manila. Toyota and Crispa won championships. Adornado became the first 3-time MVP. The season introduced the capping of the imports' heights in order, to showcase the locals in their own leagues.

In 1982, Fernandez won the MVP. It was the El Presidente's first of his four MVPs.

The 1983 season saw Crispa win its second Grand Slam since, the league sophomore year. Billy Ray Bates 6-4, maybe the league's greatest import, introduced fans to the jive-talking, slam-dunking, a-la Jordanesque moves, American player.

Toyota folded in 1984. The PBA held two All-Filipino Conferences in the wake of the economic crisis caused by the country's political instability. Great Taste Coffee established a dynasty. Jaworski and Arnaiz became members of Gilbey's Gin, the La Tondena franchise. Beer Hausen succeed the defunct Toyota squad. Northern Consolidated, the sponsored National Amateur guest team, played in the league in order, to compete and win international tourneys such as, the Asian Basketball Championships (ABC). The experiment worked as the Philippines regained its supremacy in Asia in the 1986 Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpur.

The PBA's first decade came to an unstable ending as Sanyu and multi-titled Crispa Redmanizers disbanded. The PBA moved to new surrounding, the ULTRA in Pasig. Live attendance and TV ratings rose. In 1985, Filipinas Shell replaced Crispa and demanded for some balance in the PBA. The PBA held its first Amateur Draft And picked Sonny Cabatu, a 6-5 centre, as the first-ever No. 1 pick. Northern Consolidated won the first sweep, 4-0, against Manila Beer in the Reinforced Conference.

Tanduay established a dynasty by becoming back-to-back Champions in 1986. Led by the import duo of Rob Williams and Andre McKoy won the Reinforced Conference. The Rhummakers proved itself as the best local team by winning the succeeding All-Filipino tiarra. Tanduay was led by Ramon Fernandez, JB Yango and Onchie dela Cruz.

In 1987, Tanduay made it three crowns out of four conferences, led by David Thirdkill. The IBA World Challenge Cup was held with an American team beating Great Taste.

The 1988 season saw only six teams, the PBA's lowest number for a season. Purefoods replaced the Tanduay Rhummakers. The Hotdogs became the league's glamour team overnight, as it was consisted of the five-best amateurs and the core of the defunct Tanduay team. Rookies Alvin Patrimonio 6-3, Jerry Cordinera 6-6, with Ramon Fernandez, led Purefoods to runner-up finishers in its first two conferences. All-Filipino Champions, Anejo Rhum 65, took the 1988 World Challenge Cup beating an IBA American ballclub.

1989 saw San Miguel Beer win the Grand Slam after winning two Conferences in 1988. Benjie Paras, a 6-5 centre-forward, won the Rookie of the Year and the MVP.

THE NINETIES

The start of a new decade saw the league reach it long-sought competitive balance. The 1990 First Conference was mirred in controversy, as Jaworksi-led Anejo walked out of Game 6 of the Finals; handing Formula Shell the title and paying fines of P550,000. Purefoods came back from 0-2 to win the Third Conference and its first title. Coach Baby Dalupan of the Hotdogs won his 15th Conference title. The PBA sent the first ever pro-selection, a "Dream Team", National Team to the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, China. The hastily-formed squad coached by Robert "Big J" Jaworski won the Silver losing in the Finals to China. Sarsi and Pepsi joined the league.

1991 saw Alvin Patrimonio ink a P25.3 million five-year contract with Purefoods and won the MVP. Ginebra came back from 1-3 to win a best-of-seven Championship. Purefoods became All-Filipino Champs beating Diet Sarsi. Alaska Milk beat Ginebra for the Third Conference Championship.

Mecurial, Tony Harris, nicknamed the Hurricane, blew into the league in 1992. The Swift, now Diet Sarsi, import scored 105 points in Iloilo City. Shell Rimula-X won the First Conference Finals behind seven-time Best Import, Bobby Parks. San Miguel Beer defeated Purefoods for the All-Filipino. Swift, with Harris, beat expansion cousins, Seven-Up, nee Pepsi, for the Third Conference title 4-0.

1993 saw the PBA move to the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City. Sta. Lucia Realty bought the Presto franchise, a charter-league member. Coney Island (Purefoods) beat San Miguel Beer in the All-Filipino. Swift beat a back-to-back seeking Purefoods Oodles in the Commissioner's Cup. The Governors' Cup was won by San Miguel Beer, who bested the Swift Mighty Meaty Hotdogs.

The 1994 season saw the PBA giving the incentive to the year's All-Filipino Champions the right to represent the country in the quadrennial Asian Games in Hiroshima. San Miguel Beer beat Coney Island for the coveted title. The Commissioner's Cup was won by Purefoods and Alaska beat Swift in the year's final Championship. Because of injuries, San Miguel Beer reinforced itself for the Asian Games. Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Cordinera, and Johhny Abarrientos joined the San Miguel Beer Team, who became the Philippine National Team upon winning the AFC. Along with amateur standouts, 6-9 centre Marlou Aquino and 6-3 swingman, Kenneth Duremdes, the PBA-sponsored National Team failed to even win the Bronze against Japan. It finished fourth in Hiroshima.

The 1995 season saw the first dynasty of the Ninties. Sunkist Orange Juice, the RFM franchise that used to be called Swift, won the All-Filipino in an exciting seven game series against Alaska Milk. The Series saw the rise of 1995 MVP, Vergel Meneses, a 6-3 forward, and 6-9 centre, Bonel Balingit. Sunkist and Alaska tussled again for the Commissioner's Cup, which Sunkist took in six games. Finally, Alaska took the Governors' Cup beating San Miguel Beer. Sunkist fell a game short in the Semis in order, to reach the Finals and have a shot at the Grand Slam. Alaska Milk kept its streak intact of appearing in all three Championship, extending it to five straight appearances; marking a feat not equaled since the 1988 and 1989 San Miguel Beer Teams.

The Philippine Basketball Association has become a part of every Filipino in every corner of the Archipelago. It has made country boys into millionaires and mega stars. The PBA has come a long way from that day in April when "Joy" scored a basket to usher in the PBA two decades ago. The future of the league points to teams playing in their own arenas and becoming more popular as ever before. With the advent of young players such as, Marlou Aquino and the heights of players reaching that of European countries, the PBA will be Asia's premier pro league in years to come.