Alaska Aces (PBA)

The Alaska Aces were a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association since 1986 under the ownership of Alaska Milk Corporation (AMC) and the owner of 14 PBA championships, tied with the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the Magnolia Hotshots for the second-most titles overall. They are one of the most popular teams in the league and the Philippines.

The Aces won nine PBA championships in the 1990s, including a rare grand slam (winning three championships in one season) during the 1996 season, joining the Crispa Redmanizers (1976, 1983), San Miguel Beermen (1989), and the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers ( 2013–14) as one of only four franchises to achieve the feat.

The Aces last tournament was the 2021 PBA Governors' Cup where they were eliminated by the NLEX Road Warriors in the quarterfinal round in March 2022. The franchise was bought by Converge ICT on March 23, 2022, to become the Converge FiberXers.

History

1986: First season

After the temporary departure of the Magnolia franchise prior to the start of the 1986 PBA season, the league was reduced to only five teams. Alaska Milk was accepted as the league's sixth member. Being a pro league newcomer, the ballclub was allowed to choose players from the pool presented by the PBA. The team was headed by Filipino-American owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, team manager Joel Aquino and their coach was Tony Vasquez, who played for Ateneo de Manila during his playing days and as a coach, he piloted the Ateneo juniors to an NCAA championship and also once mentored the Blue Eagles.

Among the players they choose from the pool were Arnie Tuadles and Ricky Relosa from Ginebra, Rudy Distrito, Marte Saldaña and Noli Banate from Magnolia, Alejo Alolor, Teddy Alfarero and Frankie Lim from Great Taste, and Dennis Abbatuan from Shell. In the PBA draft, as the newest member of the league, they had the first crack and Alaska selected Rey Cuenco as the number one overall pick. In the second and third rounds, they choose Ludovico Valenciano and Reynaldo Ramos.

Their very first two imports in the first conference of the season were the returning Donnie Ray Koonce and Jerry Eaves, a third round draft pick by the Utah Jazz in 1982 and who played for Utah's entire 82-game regular season in his rookie year. Both were handpicked by Alaska coaching consultant Norman Black, the former import and coach of the defunct Magnolia quintet who signed a one-year contract with the new team.

Alaska placed fourth in their inaugural conference and missed out the semifinal round in the second and third conferences, placing fifth and sixth.

1987–1988: Bruise Brothers era

A strike within Alaska Milk Corporation the team to play under a different brand. AMC brought in Hills Bros. Coffee to mitigate the strike's impact on its brand. The ballclub, temporarily renamed as the Hills Bros. Coffee Kings, had a new coach in Nat Canson, who last coached the Gold Eagle Beer squad in 1984. Following Manila Beer's disbandment, the Coffee Kings acquired three players from the Brewmasters; Elpidio Villamin, Tim Coloso and sophomore Adonis Tierra. They also acquired three-time PBA MVP William 'Bogs' Adornado from Shell via trade and Ginebra discard Joey Marquez.

In the 1987 All-Filipino Conference, the Coffee Kings surprisingly made it to the finals against corporate rival Great Taste Coffee Makers. This mark the birth of the tandem known as the "Bruise Brothers" in Yoyoy Villamin and Ricky Relosa, both players during their earlier years in the PBA were the promising forwards of legendary teams Crispa and Toyota. Villamin played alongside Abet Guidaben and Philip Cezar for Crispa while Relosa were teammates with Ramon Fernandez and Abe King at Toyota. The Coffee Kings were swept in the finals by Great Taste in three games. Coach Nat Canson resigned three weeks after the championship series.

Former Tanduay coach Arturo Valenzona, who himself was ax from the job by Tanduay management after the Rhum Makers were eliminated, accepted the offer to coach the Hills Bros. Coffee Kings starting the third conference. Parading a sweet-shooting import Jose Slaughter, who breaks the previous record for most three-point shots converted with 14 triples as he finished with 79 points in the October 18 game against Great Taste which they won, 129–115. Hills Bros were in their second finals stint after beating the Billy Ray Bates led-Ginebra in a playoff game on December 1, 1987. They faced San Miguel Beermen (formerly Magnolia) in the Reinforced Conference championship series and after winning Game One, they lost the next four games and finished bridesmaid for the second straight conference of the season.

Returning to Alaska Milk in the 1988 PBA season, the team signed three players from Shell; Rey Lazaro, Biboy Ravanes and Willie Pearson to strengthen its lineup. Before the start of the season, Bogs Adornado announces his retirement from active playing and was given recognition by the PBA in the opening day on March 20, 1988. Alaska placed third in the Open and All-Filipino Conference of the season. Bogs Adornado would replace Arturo Valenzona as the team's head coach beginning the third conference.

1989–1992: Arrival of coach Tim Cone and Jolas with their 1st title

The year 1989 was an exciting year for Alaska as the team drafted the high-leaping Paul Alvarez and the backcourt tandem of Ric-Ric Marata and Elmer Cabahug. Veteran center Abet Guidaben, who has been disgruntled in the last three months of the 1988 season following a bitter trade with Ramon Fernandez that sent him to Purefoods Hotdogs, has joined the bruise brothers to formed an awesome force inside the paint. Alaska was able to hire Sean Chambers, who played with the American selection in two previous PBA/IBA series, as their import to replaced their first choice Carl Lott in the 1989 Open Conference. Chambers led Alaska to a third-place finish in his first PBA stint.

American Tim Cone, a member of the PBA's vintage panel, accepted the coaching chores for Alaska Milk on full-time starting the All-Filipino Conference. Alaska has long without a coach when Bogs Adornado was sacked after the elimination round of the first conference and team manager Joel Aquino handled the team on interim basis.

Alaska continues to struggle despite the mixture of veterans and young players in the roster and team owner Wilfred Uytengsu could not hide his disappointment when the Milkmen went winless in the semifinals of the 1990 All-Filipino Conference. They got rid of one of their veterans; Abet Guidaben, who was traded to Pepsi for Harmon Codiñera.

In the third conference of the 1990 PBA season, Alaska finally advances in the finals for the third time in franchise history and their first since the 1987 season. Going up against the Purefoods Hotdogs, both teams were gunning for their first championship. Alaska had former Boston Celtic Carlos Clark

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