Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in 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 ...

. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, becoming the shortest player to win the league's highest individual award. He is known by many as The Flying A when he started playing for the

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 ...

in 1993. He is currently an assistant coach for the

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 ...

and the

Head Coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the

FEU Tamaraws The FEU Tamaraws are the varsity teams of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The collegiate women's varsity teams are called the ''Lady Tamaraws'' while the high school varsity teams are call ...

Amateur career

Abarrientos began his basketball career in the

University Athletic Association of the Philippines The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univers ...

for the

Far Eastern University Far Eastern University (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pamantasan ng Malayong Silanganan''), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private non-sectarian Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Manila, Philippines ...

Tamaraws alongside future pro Victor Pablo and led the Tamaraws to two UAAP crowns in 1991 and 1992. His jersey #14 was retired by FEU on July 6, 2011. He also played in the

Philippine Basketball League The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) was a commercial semi-professional basketball league in the Philippines. The league was composed of several commercial teams with several collegiate and provincial stars. History The PBL was formed on Ma ...

for the

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 ...

and Triple-V before jumping ship to the PBA.

Professional career

Alaska Aces

Alaska selected Abarrientos 3rd overall in the 1993 PBA Draft and showed impressive performances in his rookie season. In his second season, he was included in the RP National team bound for the 1994 Asian Games held in Hiroshima, Japan. From 1994-1998, Abarrientos led Alaska to eight PBA titles, including the grand slam winning 1996 season. He was named as the Most Valuable Player during the same season and the Best Player of the Conference in the Commissioner's Cup. In 1997, talks of Abarrientos' potential participation in the NBA came, when

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

scout Joe Bettancourt offered Abarrientos a contract to participate in the Hornets' pre-season camp. Abarrientos, though, declined the offer to concentrate on his pro career in the PBA. In 1997 Abarrientos average a career high 16.7 Points and a league leading 8.6 assists per game. In 1998, Abarrientos was included in the

Philippine Centennial Team The 1998 Philippines men's national basketball team, nicknamed the "Philippine Centennial Team", competed in the 1998 Asian Games. The team consisted of professional players in the country that included national team veterans Allan Caidic and Al ...

, coached by his Alaska mentor

Tim Cone Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who is the head coach of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is the most accomplished coach in PBA history with t ...

. With him,

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 ...

and fellow Alaska teammates

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

, the Nationals took home the bronze medal in the Bangkok Asian Games. Two years later, Abarrientos was named in the PBA's 25 Greatest Players of All-Time as part of the league's anniversary on April 9, 2000. During the same year, Abarrientos' career started to diminish despite the Aces winning the All-Filipino crown. After the season, Abarrientos and

Poch Juinio Edward "Poch" Juinio (born May 25, 1973) is a Filipino retired former professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. He played most of his seasons with Alaska Aces and won numerous championships. Professional career ...

were swapped to the

Pop Cola Panthers The Pop Cola Panthers were a professional basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association from 1990-2001. The franchise was owned by RFM Corporation. In 2001, when RFM Corporation sold its entire stake in Cosmos Bottling Cor ...

for

Ali Peek Albert Henry "Ali" Peek (born February 13, 1975) is a Filipino-American retired professional basketball player who played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). During his playing days, he played mostly at the center position, although he ...

and Jon Ordonio.

Pop Cola Panthers

Abarrientos put on a decent performance in his only season with the Panthers in 2001. With

Rudy Hatfield Rudolph Conse "Rudy" Hatfield II (born September 13, 1977) is an American-Filipino retired professional basketball player who played for Laguna Lakers in the Metropolitan Basketball Association and for Tanduay Rhum Masters, Pop Cola Panthers, Coc ...

and former Alaska teammates Lastimosa and Juinio around, they led Pop Cola to a third-place finish in the All-Filipino Cup. After the year, Pop Cola was bought by 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 ...

and was renamed as the

Coca-Cola Tigers Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

Coca-Cola Tigers

Prior to joining the Tigers in 2002, Abarrientos was part of the RP Training Pool for the Busan Asian Games but was later cut. He returned later to lead Coca-Cola to a third-place finish in the Governor's Cup. In the All-Filipino, Abarrientos led his team to the finals against Alaska. After he scored 20 points in the first half of Game 1, Abarrientos left the game with an injury and was sidelined for the rest of the series. The Tigers went on to win the crown 3-1 over his former team. In 2003, Abarrientos and his team led the Tigers to the 2003 Reinforced Conference title. By the 2004-2005 season, injuries and decline have hampered Abarrientos and saw his minutes diminished. In the 2005-2006 season, Abarrientos shared point guard duties with fellow FEU alumni, rookie

Dennis Miranda Dennis Ellera "Denok" Miranda (born July 14, 1982), is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Laguna Heroes of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He was drafted third overall by Coca-Cola in 2005. He is ...

and Dale Singson.

Barangay Ginebra Kings

Two weeks before the start of the PBA season, the

released Abarrientos. Rumors persisted that his former team Alaska and Ginebra were interested in acquiring him. Five days after his release, Abarrientos was signed by Coke's sister team Ginebra to a contract for the 2006-07 season after none of the non-SMC teams showed interest in signing the former 1996 MVP. He played reserve role to lead point guard and 2009 Most Valuable Player

Jayjay Helterbrand Anthony "Jayjay" Helterbrand (born Lamberto Romero Vicente, Jr. on October 14, 1976) is a Filipino-American basketball player for the Boracay Islanders of the Pilipinas Super League. He previously played with the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of ...

, as his court generalship gave additional factor in the Kings' line-up. The Flying A made a memorable moment when he surpassed

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 ...

as the all-time leader in steals on February 5, 2007 as Ginebra defeated the

Talk 'N Text Phone Pals Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

and won their semis matchup, 4-2. Ginebra would go on to win the 2006-07 Philippine Cup against San Miguel, 4-2, with Abarrientos hitting a three-pointer in a crucial stretch of the final game. Afterwards, Abarrientos went into semi-retirement, serving in the coaching staff of Ginebra. Before the 2009-2010 PBA season started, he announced his retirement, ending his very successful 16 years in the PBA. But, during the KFC Philippine Cup 2009-10 of the PBA, when

Celino Cruz Celino Salazar Cruz (born July 22, 1977) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. A deadly left-handed shooter, he is best known for his clutch plays. Cruz played eight seasons in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). After pl ...

and

Mark Caguioa Mark Anthony Yu Caguioa (born November 19, 1979) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known as The Spark and as MC47 from his initials an ...

got injured, Head Coach Jong Uichico brought back Abarientos to the active roster as point guard.

Retirement and coaching

After Abarrientos was elevated as assistant coach of the

Barangay Ginebra Kings A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

, he was invited by Alaska management for the Alaska 25th Anniversary Reunion as a result of their triumphant title conquest in the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference against the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

. In that occasion, Alaska management decided to retire his #14 jersey because of his valuable contributions to the team including his 1996 Grand Slam conquest and his MVP award during that same year. The 1996 PBA MVP had spent the last few years as part of the coaching staff of Ginebra. For the 37th season of the PBA, Abarrientos joins the B-Meg team as assistant coach, together with former teammate

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 ...

, to help Coach

install his vaunted triangle offense in the talent-laden B-Meg squad.Cone officially joins B-MEG, brings Abarrientos and Cariaso

Accomplishments

* UAAP Champion * 1996 PBA MVP * 12-Time PBA Champion * Three-Time Member of the RP National Team * PBA All Time Leaders in Steals (1,302)

References

External links

Johnny Abarrientos Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abarrientos, Johnny 1970 births Living people Alaska Aces (PBA) draft picks Alaska Aces (PBA) players Asian Games bronze medalists for the Philippines Asian Games medalists in basketball Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Basketball players at the 1994 Asian Games Basketball players at the 1998 Asian Games Basketball players from Camarines Sur FEU Tamaraws basketball players Filipino men's basketball coaches Filipino men's basketball players Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coaches Philippine Basketball Association players with retired numbers Philippines men's national basketball team players Point guards Pop Cola Panthers players Powerade Tigers players Sportspeople from Naga, Camarines Sur Magnolia Hotshots coaches FEU Tamaraws basketball coaches