The 1981 PBA season was the seventh season of the

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 se ...

(PBA).

Season highlights

*Instead of the usual three-conference format, the season was shortened to two conferences to give way for the Philippines' hosting of the

SEA Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...

in Manila. *Rivals Toyota and Crispa played in the finals for the 10th and what turn out to be the last time during the PBA Open Conference championship series. The Super Diesels finally ended a string of three runner-up finishes from last year by winning against the Redmanizers in five games. *Toyota import Andrew Fields became the first recipient of the PBA Best Import Award. *William "Bogs" Adornado of U/Tex Wranglers won his 3rd Most Valuable Player Award.

Champions

* Open Conference:

Toyota Super Diesels The Toyota Super Corollas were a multi-titled basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1983. Founded in 1973 by businessman and sportsman Dante Silverio, the team - formally named Toyota Athletic Club - was own ...

* Reinforced Filipino Conference:

Crispa Redmanizers The Crispa Redmanizers were a multi-titled Filipino basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1984. It was one of the nine founding teams of the PBA, winning a total of thirteen PBA championships, i ...

* Team with best win–loss percentage:

(29-14, .674) * Best Team of the Year:

(4th)

Open Conference

Elimination round

Semifinals

Finals

*Best Import of the Conference: Andrew Fields (

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

)

Reinforced Filipino Conference

Elimination round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

*Best Import of the Conference: Russell Murray (

Tanduay Tanduay Distillers, Inc. () is a Philippine alcoholic beverage company. It is a subsidiary of LT Group, a conglomerate owned by Filipino business magnate Lucio Tan. As of 2019, it is the world's largest rum brand. History Tanduay traces its or ...

)

Awards

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

Bogs Adornado William "Bogs" Adornado (born May 26, 1951) is a Filipino former basketball player and coach. He is one of the Philippine Basketball Association's Greatest Players and was inducted to its Hall of Fame in 2005. He was a three-time PBA Most Val ...

(U/Tex) * Rookie of the Year: Rafael Sison (Presto) * Best Import-Open Conference: Andrew Fields (Toyota) * Best Import-Reinforced Conference: Russell Murray (Yco-Tanduay) * Mythical Five: **

Robert Jaworski Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr. (; born March 8, 1946) is a Filipino former professional basketball player, head coach and politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1998 to 2004. He played 23 seasons in the Philippine Bas ...

(Toyota) **

Atoy Co Fortunato "Atoy" Gan Co Jr. (born October 15, 1951) is a Filipino former basketball player and coach who played 13 seasons in the Philippine Basketball Association, mostly with Crispa Redmanizers. Nicknamed "The Fortune Cookie" (a pun on his na ...

(Crispa) **

Ramon Fernandez Ramon Sadaya Fernandez (; born October 3, 1953) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and current commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission. Fernandez won four PBA Most Valuable Player awards and a record 19 PBA titles. F ...

(Toyota) **

(U/Tex) **

Philip Cezar Philip Dudley Cezar (born December 1, 1952) is a Filipino former basketball coach, player and politician. Known by the monikers "Mr. Stretch", "''Tapal'' King" and "The Scholar", he was part of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers ballclub of the Phil ...

(Crispa)

Cumulative standings

References

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