The 2021 PBA 3x3 season was the inaugural season of the

PBA 3x3 PBA 3x3 refers to the men's 3x3 basketball league of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). History The proposal to form PBA 3x3, a men's 3x3 basketball league, was a result of a joint partnership between the Philippine Basketball Assoc ...

, the

3x3 basketball 3x3 basketball (pronounced ''three-ex-three'') is a variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one backboard and in a half-court setup. According to an ESSEC Business School study commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, 3x3 ...

league 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 ...

Postponement

The inaugural season was supposed to be held in 2020, with all 12 franchise teams of the main PBA to field their own teams.

Mighty Sports Mighty Sports (sometimes referred to as Mighty Sports - Go for Gold for sponsorship reasons) is a basketball team based in the Philippines playing in various domestic tournaments. The team won four championships in the Republica Cup in 2013, 2014, ...

and

Dunkin Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 195 ...

reportedly were interesting in also fielding teams in the PBA 3x3. The inaugural season was supposed to start with the 3×3 Philippine Cup in March 2020, but was postponed to 2021 by June 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

with the PBA preoccupied with plans to resume the season of its main league during that time. The PBA 3x3 inaugural season was initially scheduled to be held in parallel with the

2021 PBA season The 2021 PBA season was the 46th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season's start, originally scheduled on April 11, 2021, has been delayed until July 16, 2021. The league's Board of Governors anno ...

, which opened on April 11, 2021, but was further postponed. The inaugural PBA 3x3 season commenced on November 20, 2021.

Teams

All 12 franchise teams of the main 5-a-side

are eligible to field a 3x3 team for the 2021 PBA 3x3 season. The Alaska Aces and

Blackwater Bossing The Blackwater Bossing is a professional basketball team owned by Ever Bilena, Inc. that is playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) beginning in the 2014–2015 season. The franchise began as one of the founding teams in the PB ...

decided not to field a team, while three guest teams (Pioneer, Platinum, and Zamboanga) participated. Another guest team, Master Sardines, joined before the second conference to become the 14th team of the tournament. The Zamboanga Valientes took a leave of absence during the second conference, but returned during the third conference. Four of the participating franchising teams

Magnolia Hotshots The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migue ...

, NLEX Road Warriors,

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters The Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters is a professional basketball team owned by Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which debuted in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the 2016 Commissioner's Cup. The franchise began after the compa ...

and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters announced in November they would be competing in the PBA 3x3 under different team names; Purefoods TJ Titans, Cavitex Braves, Limitless Appmasters, and Sista Super Sealers respectively.

Format

The inaugural PBA 3x3 season had three tournaments or conference. Each conference had six two-day legs and a grand final. The 13 teams were divided into three pools, with pool A having five teams while pools B and C having four each. Teams within their pools play in a single round-robin format. The top three teams of pool A and the top two teams of pools B and C directly qualify for the quarterfinals. The third-best teams of pools B and C played in a knockout game prior to the quarterfinals. The knockout stage is a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

and a third place game is also held. The winner of each leg gets ₱100,000, the runner-up gets ₱50,000, while the third placed team gets ₱30,000. The seedings and pool compositions for each leg are based on the results of the preceding leg. For the third conference, there were 14 teams divided into four pools, with pools A and C having four teams while pools B and D having three each. The top two teams of each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. After six legs, the cumulative standings were calculated and the top four teams directly qualified for the quarterfinals of the Grand Finals. The fifth to tenth-placed teams qualified for the preliminary round of the Grand Finals. The bottom teams were not qualified for the Grand Finals. The Grand Champion gets ₱750,000, the runner-up gets ₱250,000, while the third placed team gets ₱100,000.

Transactions

Coaching changes

First conference

The conference started on November 20, 2021, and ended on December 29.

Legs summary

Grand Finals

Preliminary round

=Pool A

=Pool B

Knockout stage

=Bracket

= Seed refers to the position of the team after six legs. Letter and number inside parentheses denotes the pool letter and pool position of the team, respectively, after the

preliminary round A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the Grand Finals.

Second conference

The second conference was originally scheduled to start on January 8, 2022, but was suspended after Metro Manila was put on Alert Level 3 due to the rising COVID-19 cases. The conference started on February 19 and ended on April 27.

Legs summary

Grand Finals

Preliminary round

=Pool A

=Pool B

Knockout stage

=Bracket

= Seed refers to the position of the team after six legs. Letter and number inside parentheses denotes the pool letter and pool position of the team, respectively, after the

of the Grand Finals.

Third conference

The conference started on May 21, 2022, and ended on July 3.

Legs summary

Grand Finals

Preliminary round

=Pool A

=Pool B

Knockout stage

=Bracket

= Seed refers to the position of the team after six legs. Letter and number inside parentheses denotes the pool letter and pool position of the team, respectively, after the

of the Grand Finals.

Notes

References

{{PBA 3x3 3x3

Pba 3x3 PBA 3x3 refers to the men's 3x3 basketball league of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). History The proposal to form PBA 3x3, a men's 3x3 basketball league, was a result of a joint partnership between the Philippine Basketball Assoc ...

Pba