The 1999 PBA season was the 25th 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

*A new era began with the entry of Fil-foreign cagers such as

Asi Taulava Pauliasi Taulava (born March 2, 1973) is a Tongan-born Filipino professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is the oldest active player in the league. Standing 6 ft 9 in (2 ...

and

Eric Menk Eric Conrad Menk (born August 24, 1974) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player who played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Asean Basketball League. Known as Major Pain, Menk is a four-time PBA champion ...

. *During the opening ceremonies, the PBA honored basketball greats in their respective era as the all-time first five, nominated in each decade from 1950s-1990s were

Caloy Loyzaga Carlos "Caloy" Matute Loyzaga (August 29, 1930 – January 27, 2016) was a Filipino basketball player and coach. He was the most dominant basketball player of his era in the Philippines and is considered as the greatest Filipino basketball playe ...

Narciso Bernardo Narciso C. Bernardo (July 27, 1937 – December 23, 2008),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 ...

Hector Calma Hector Calma (born March 2, 1960) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. At 5 feet and 8 inches, he played at the point guard position and was most notably associated with the San Miguel Beer team of the Philippine Basketbal ...

and

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 ...

, surprisingly absent from the list was

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 ...

, who was then the MBA Commissioner. *The opening ceremonies for the said season went head-to-head against the opening ceremonies of rival league, MBA, involving the TV network war. The PBA sought the alliance of GMA Network who facilitated their opening ceremonies while MBA used ABS-CBN's roster of stars for its opening ceremonies. *The PBA transferred from the

Cuneta Astrodome The Cuneta Astrodome is an indoor arena that is located in Pasay, Philippines. Since the 1993 PBA season, it was better known as the home of the Philippine Basketball Association. when it left the PhilSports Arena (that was then known as ULTRA), ...

to the

PhilSports Arena The Philippine Institute of Sports Multi-Purpose Arena or PhilSports Arena is an indoor arena, indoor sporting arena located inside the PhilSports Complex in Pasig, Philippines. It was formerly known as the University of Life Theater and Recre ...

as their main playing venue. *The league changes their playdates from Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays to Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Friday games were still held exclusively at the Araneta Coliseum while the Sunday games are played at the PhilSports Arena. *The

Tanduay Rhum Masters The Tanduay Rhum Makers (1975-1987) and Tanduay Rhum Masters (1999-2001) were two basketball franchises associated with the same liquor brand that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The original franchise, owned by Elizald ...

returned to the PBA after a 12-year absence. *During the off-season, the league allowed each team to have a direct-hire

Filipino-Foreigner 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 ...

recruit as their answer to the increasing popularity of rival basketball league, the

Metropolitan Basketball Association The Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), or Metroball, was a professional basketball league in the Philippines that ran from March 7, 1998, to July 26, 2002. History The MBA played its first game on March 7, 1998, at the Don Narciso Ramos ...

.Tighter PBA rules on imported cagers
Philippine Headline News Online *Formula Shell became the 10th team to win the All-Filipino crown, and won their first back-to-back championships, the underdog Shell team led by Benjie Paras, Victor Pablo and Gerry Esplana, defied the odds by beating the stronger Tanduay ballclub, composed of powerhouse rookies Sonny Alvarado, Mark Telan, Chris Cantonjos and Eric Menk. *The San Miguel Beermen, under new coach

Jong Uichico Joseph Enrique Uichico (born July 15, 1962), better known as Jong Uichico, is a Filipino professional basketball coach who last coached the Bataan Risers in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. Uichico is a former Philippine national team Y ...

, ended a five-year title-drought and won the final two conferences of the season to tie the legendary

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 ...

for the most championships with 13.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

1999 PBA All-Filipino Cup

Elimination round

Playoffs

Finals

1999 PBA Commissioner's Cup

Elimination round

Playoffs

Finals

1999 PBA Governors' Cup

Elimination round

Playoffs

Finals

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 ...

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) * Rookie of the Year:

Danny Seigle Daniel Charles Seigle (born June 14, 1976) is a Filipino-American basketball coach and retired player. He is the head coach of the De La Salle Green Archers men's basketball team and a team consultant for the San Miguel Alab Pilipinas of the ASEA ...

(San Miguel) * 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: Elmer Lago (Ginebra) * Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Jackson (Formula Shell) * 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) **

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 ...

(Mobiline) ** Sonny Alvarado (Tanduay) **

(Shell) **

(San Miguel) * Mythical Second Team **

Olsen Racela Rodericko Cesar Escueta Racela, also known as Olsen Racela, (born November 1, 1970) is the head coach of the FEU Tamaraws men's basketball team. He is also currently an assistant coach of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basket ...

(San Miguel) **

Danny Ildefonso Danilo Ildefonso (born December 9, 1976) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He is currently an assistant coach for both the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the NU Bulldogs of the UAAP. Nick ...

(San Miguel) **

(Tanduay) **

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) **

Kenneth Duremdes Kenneth Celera Duremdes (born January 31, 1974) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association and the current commissioner of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). Nicknamed as "Captain ...

(Alaska) * All Defensive Team ** Chris Jackson (Shell) **

Freddie Abuda Freddie Abuda (born October 8, 1969) is a Filipino former basketball player. He was drafted by Purefoods, then known Coney Island Ice Cream, in the 2nd round as the 14th overall pick. Abuda played eleven seasons in the PBA, most of them with th ...

(San Miguel) **

(Alaska) ** Dindo Pumaren (Purefoods) **

(Tanduay)

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

* Coach of the Year:

Perry Ronquillo Perry Ronquillo (born 1965) is a former award-winning PBA coach. He is currently a school teacher in the United States. Playing career He played for De La Salle Green Archers under head coach Derrick Pumaren, and won 2 UAAP championships toge ...

(Shell) * Mr. Quality Minutes:

Rodney Santos John Rodney Santos (born May 30, 1973) is a Filipino coach and retired professional basketball player. He is also known as The Slasher for his slashing ability going to the basket. Collegiate career Santos played for the San Sebastian high scho ...

(Alaska) * Executive of the Year:

Jun Bernardino Emilio "Jun" Bernardino, Jr. (November 9, 1947 – March 24, 2007) was the fifth commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was elected as commissioner of the league in 1994 and retired in 2002. He served as the commissioner ...

(PBA commissioner) * Comeback Player of the Year:

(Shell) * Referee of the Year: Ernie de Leon

Cumulative standings

References

{{PBA seasons