The 1995 PBA season was the 21st 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

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 ...

, one of the remaining pioneer players in the league announced his retirement on February 17. His #19 jersey was retired by the San Miguel Beermen in a ceremony held at the

San Miguel Corporation San Miguel Corporation, abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified congl ...

offices in Mandaluyong. *The league returned to the Araneta Coliseum after a decade of absence with the scheduled games on Friday being held at the Big Dome. *The PBA All-star game returned to its old format of Veterans vs Rookies/Sophomores/Juniors team, also the All-Star event was moved in the month of July with the first-ever PBA fans day held at the Araneta Coliseum a week before the annual all-star game. *A mid-1990s rivalry was born between the Sunkist Orange Juicers and the Alaska Milkmen, the two teams battled in two memorable finals for the season. The Orange Juicers had won the first two conferences but failed in its bid to win the Grandslam with the Alaska Milkmen taking home the Third Conference trophy. *Vergel Meneses of Sunkist was the season's best, winning the prestigious MVP Award as well as the All-Star MVP and Best Player of the Conference in the Juicers' two straight championships.

Rule changes

The PBA board approved the rule changes for implementation starting this season:PBA's 21st season: Speed is a thing, Hoop Notes by

Quinito Henson Joaquin M. Henson (born October 14, 1950), also known as Quinito Henson, is a Filipino sports analyst and television color commentator. His newspaper column, ''Sporting Chance'', has appeared in the ''Philippine Star'' since the 1980s. Self-dubb ...

, Sports Weekly Magazine, February 24, 1995 *The

shot clock A shot clock is a countdown timer used in a variety of games and sports, proving a set amount of time that a team may possess the object of play before attempting to score a goal. Shot clocks are used in several sports including basketball, wat ...

was reduced to 24 seconds from the previous 25 second limit. The 25 second shot clock was implemented since the league started in 1975 due to a limitation of the shot clock used at the Araneta Coliseum where it can only be set in 5 second intervals. *The first two minutes of each quarter will be played in "running time". The clock will only be stopped on fouls and violations. *Teams will now have six 90-second regular timeouts and one 20-second timeout for the eliminations and semifinals. *Substitutions during free throw situations are only allowed before the last free throw attempt. *Foul shooters are allowed to shoot their first free throw even if the other players are not yet in position in the lines bordering the painted area.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Champions

* All-Filipino Cup: Sunkist Orange Juicers * Commissioner's Cup: Sunkist Orange Juicers * Governor's Cup:

Alaska Milkmen The Alaska Aces were a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association since 1986 PBA season, 1986 under the ownership of Alaska Milk Corporation (AMC) and the owner of 14 PBA championships, tied with the Barangay Ginebr ...

* Team with best win–loss percentage: Sunkist Orange Juicers (49-23, .681) * Best Team of the Year: Sunkist Orange Juicers (1st & Final)

All-Filipino Cup

Elimination round

Semifinal round

Third place playoffs

Finals

*Best Player of the Conference:

Vergel Meneses Vergel Corpuz Meneses (born January 14, 1969) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player and a politician, serving as mayor of the municipality of Bulakan, Bulacan. He previously played in the Philippine Basketball Association and ser ...

( Sunkist)

Commissioner's Cup

Elimination round

Quarterfinal round

Playoffs

Third place playoffs

Finals

*Best Player of the Conference:

( Sunkist) *Best Import of the Conference:

Ronnie Grandison Ron Calvin Grandison (born July 6, 1964) is a former basketball player, who attended the University of California, Irvine and the University of New Orleans. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1987 NBA draft, 100th pick overall, by the Den ...

( Sunkist)

Governors' Cup

Elimination round

Semifinal round

Third place playoff

Finals

*Best Player of the Conference:

Allan Caidic Allan Vito Flores Caidic (born June 15, 1963) is a Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is considered by many to be the greatest shooter the country has ever produced, thus, earning the mon ...

( San Miguel) *Best Import of the Conference:

Stevin Smith Stevin L. "Hedake" Smith (born January 24, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player, who is also known for his involvement in the 1994 Arizona State point-shaving scandal. Early life Smith was born in Dallas, Texas, the only ...

( Sunkist)

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 ...

(Sunkist) * Rookie of the Year:

Jeffrey Cariaso Jeffrey Joaquin Cariaso is a Filipino-American coach and retired professional basketball player. He is the former head coach of the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He also played for various PBA teams, mostly ...

(Alaska) * Sportsmanship Award:

Rey Evangelista Rey Evangelista (born December 28, 1971) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who played for Purefoods franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association during his entire career. He was a one-time Best Player of the Conference a ...

(Purefoods) * Most Improved Player:

Bonel Balingit Bonel P. Balingit (born November 30, 1967), also known as The Gentle Giant and Man-Mountain, is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who played as a center. Basketball career The hulking Bonel played for the University of the Visaya ...

(Sunkist) * Defensive Player of the Year: Art dela Cruz (San Miguel) * Mythical Five: **

Johnny Abarrientos Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, bec ...

(Alaska) **

Bong Hawkins Rene "Bong" Hawkins Jr. (born November 6, 1967) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. He is the son of character actor Rene Hawkins, Sr. PBA career Presto & Sta.Lucia A power forward wit ...

(Alaska) **

(San Miguel) **

Benjie Paras Venancio Johnson Paras Jr. (born October 2, 1968), better known as Benjie Paras, is a Filipino actor, comedian, and a retired professional basketball player who played for Shell Turbo Chargers and San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketb ...

(Shell) **

(Sunkist) * Mythical Second Team: **Boybits Victoria (Sunkist) **

Jojo Lastimosa Isabelo "Jojo" Lastimosa Jr. (born March 10, 1964) is a Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association for the Purefoods Hotdogs, the Alaska Aces and the Pop Cola Panthers from 1988 to 2002. He was als ...

(Alaska) **

(Sunkist) **

Alvin Patrimonio Alvin Dale Vergara Patrimonio (born November 17, 1966) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player from the Philippine Basketball Association and is the current team manager for the Magnolia Hotshots. Patrimonio holds several PBA re ...

(Purefoods) **

Nelson Asaytono Nelson Asaytono (born January 25, 1967) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who played for Purefoods, Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola, San Miguel Beer, and Red Bull in the PBA during his 17-year career. Collegiate / Amateur career As ...

(Sunkist) * All Defensive Team: **

Jerry Codiñera Jerry Herman Codiñera (born November 14, 1966) is a Filipino coach and retired professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. He is nicknamed the "Defense Minister" for his prowess at the defensive end. He is the curr ...

(Purefoods) **

Glenn Capacio Glenn Capacio (born May 15, 1964, in Palo, Leyte) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the former head coach of PBA team GlobalPort Batang Pier and was also the former head coach ...

(Purefoods) **Chris Jackson (Sta. Lucia) **

Elpidio Villamin Elpidio "Yoyoy" Villamin (born November 7, 1958 in Labo, Camarines Norte, Philippines), is a retired Filipino professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. Standing 6'3" on a muscular frame, Villamin earned the monike ...

(Sunkist) **Art dela Cruz (San Miguel)

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

* Coach of the Year:

Derrick Pumaren Frederick "Derrick" S. Pumaren, better known on his nickname Manong Derrick, is a Filipino basketball coach who is currently the coach of the De La Salle Green Archers in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). He coached se ...

(Sunkist) * Mr. Quality Minutes: Porfirio "Jun" Marzan (Shell) * Executive of the Year: Elmer Yanga (Swift) * Comeback Player of the Year:

(Sunkist) * Referee of the Year: Ernesto de Leon

Board of Governors

* Emilio Bernardino (Commissioner) * Ruben Cleofe (Secretary) * Jose Concepcion III (Chairman, Republic Flour Mills Corp.) * Teodoro Dimayuga (Vice-Chairman, Purefoods Corp.) * Nazario Avendaño (Treasurer, San Miguel Corp.) * Wilfred Steven Uytengsu (General Milling Corp.) * Eliseo Santiago (Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.) * Vicente Santos (Sta. Lucia Realty and Development, Inc) * Luis Lorenzo, Sr (Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc) * Bernabe Navarro (La Tondeña Distillers, Inc)

Cumulative standings

References

{{PBA seasons