The Filipino Basketball League, also known as Filbasket, is a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

league founded in 2021 in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Its first season was launched on October 28, 2021, featured eleven teams and ran for a period of 26 days. AICC Manila clinched the league title.

History

The Filipino Basketball League (Filbasket) was established by former UAAP college player

Jai Reyes Jose Antonio Gonzales Reyes (born February 25, 1987) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He previously played for the Ateneo de Manila University ...

and Buddy Encarnado of the Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors in 2021. It was founded as a means to provide a platform for basketball players whose careers were disrupted by 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 identif ...

community quarantine measures. This includes players of the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines. History Manny Pacquiao launched the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on August 29, 2017, starting off as a semi-professional lea ...

(MPBL) which saw its 2019–20 season delayed due to COVID-19 measures. Hence many teams from the MPBL have joined the FilBasket, while not leaving the former, in a bid to play more competitive games. The

Games and Amusements Board The Games and Amusements Board (GAB) ( tgl, Lupon sa Palaro at Libangan) is the government-ran regulatory body of professional sports in the Philippines. History The Games and Amusements Board initially started its operation in 1951 with the issu ...

(GAB) of the Philippine government contends that Filbasket is a professional league and not an amateur league as the league organizers believe, hence the league falls under its jurisdiction. The FilBasket organizers admitted that the long-term plan is for the league to become a professional league although it maintains that it will be an amateur league initially. The dispute was reportedly resolved in October 2021, with FilBasket pushing through with its first tournament, the FilBasket Subic Championship. Filbasket secured approval from SBMA and the

IATF The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is a task force organized by the executive of the government of the Philippines to respond to affairs concerning emerging infectious diseases in the countr ...

for a bubble tournament at the Subic Bay Gymnasium, in accordance to regulations for amateur leagues. The Filbasket Subic Championship concluded with AICC Manila being the winners. However the GAB issued a cease and desist order insisting that Filbasket is a professional league and declared the tournament held last year as unlawful although it did not impose any further sanctions. Filbasket started the process of turning into a professional league recognized by the GAB on February 22, 2022. By March 1, 2022, the league was already granted professional status by the GAB. The league would hold its first professional tournament, the

Filbasket Summer Championship The Filbasket 2022 Summer Championship, officially known as the Filbasket 2022 Summer Championship - Puregold for sponsorship reasons, was the second season of the Filbasket and first as a professional league. The league tournament follows the ...

, in early 2022. It would also hold its first international tournament, the

Filbasket International Championship The Filbasket International Championship, also known as the Sportsclick Filbasket International Championship – Malaysia for sponsorship reasons, was the third tournament under the Philippine-based Filbasket league. The tournament was held in ...

in the latter part of the same year in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Teams

Teams competed at the Filbasket International Championship (2022):

Venues

Champions

References

{{Basketball in the Philippines 2021 establishments in the Philippines Sports leagues established in 2021 Basketball leagues in the Philippines

History

Teams

Venues

Champions

See also

References