The 2023–24 PBA season (or PBA season 48) was the 48th 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 Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA). Due to the participation of

Philippine men's national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team (), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or s ...

in the

2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 19th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams, held from 25 August to 10 September 2023. The tournament was the second to feature 32 teams and was hosted by multipl ...

and

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

, the PBA season started on November 5, 2023 and would only have two conferences, first being the Commissioner's Cup, followed by the season-ending Philippine Cup. Opening day was originally scheduled on October 15, but was moved three weeks past the original date to give the players who participated in the

and the

time to rest and recover. The first activity of the season was the PBA season 48 draft, held on September 17.

Executive board

* Commissioner: Willie Marcial * Chairman:

Ricky Vargas Victorico "Ricky" P. Vargas (born February 24, 1952) is a Filipino executive who served as the 10th President of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) from March 5, 2018, after winning over Jose Cojuangco Jr. in a court-ordered elections held o ...

(Representing

TNT Tropang Giga The TNT Tropang 5G is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 1990. The fra ...

) * Vice-chairman: Demosthenes Rosales (Representing Terrafirma Dyip) * Treasurer: Raymond Zorrilla (Representing Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters)

Teams

Changes from previous season: * The Bay Area Dragons, franchise team for the East Asia Super League, were rebranded as the "Chun Yu Bay Area Dragons", and were to return to play in the Commissioner's Cup as a guest team, having played in the same conference during the previous season. However, they were disbanded prior to the start of the first conference. * Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters were rebranded as the "

Phoenix Fuel Masters The Phoenix Fuel Masters is a professional basketball team owned by Phoenix Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which debuted in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the 2015–16 PBA season, 2016 2016 PBA Commissioner's C ...

" prior to the Philippine Cup.

Arenas

Under the new normal, the PBA has resumed playing in venues in Metro Manila and Rizal. The PBA also released its schedule showing its first "out-of-town" games since the pandemic, with five game days held in the provinces.

Main arenas

Out-of-town arenas

Transactions

Retirement

*On May 12, 2023,

Reynel Hugnatan Reynel Frances T. Hugnatan (born November 3, 1978) is a Filipino professional basketball player who plays for the San Juan Knights franchise of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and Pilipinas Super League (PSL). He also serves as ...

formally retired after being signed by the

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of thre ...

as one of its assistant coaches. Hugnatan played for three teams in his 19 seasons in the league.

Coaching changes

Rule changes

The PBA competition committee approved the rule changes for implementation starting in the Commissioner's Cup games:

Notable events

Pre-season

* Several players were sanctioned by their respective teams and the PBA due to numerous

ligang labas In Philippine sports, mostly in basketball, ligang labas () is a Tagalog language term for playing in a sports league other than where a player's team is primarily playing. It is also a description used by former Philippine Basketball Association ...

infractions. * Due to the long off-season, the PBA launched the "PBA on Tour", a months-long series of pre-season games involving all PBA teams played across the country. Each team played 11 games and were allowed to have 17 players in their roster (but only 16 are allowed to play in a game) which are composed of regular players, 3x3 affiliate team players, free agents, and rookie aspirants. The tour was held from May 21 to July 30, 2023; there was no playoffs nor a championship series. The

Magnolia Chicken Timplados 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, San Miguel Food and Beverage, I ...

finished the tour with the best record, winning all of their 11 games. * The PBA competition committee proposed several rule changes, most notably the addition of the head coach challenge. Proposed new rules were first implemented during the PBA on Tour. After the tour, the league will assess which rules will be adapted starting the regular season. * Willie Marcial will remain as the league's commissioner until the 2026–27 season as his contract was extended by the PBA Board of Governors. * The PBA Board of Governors relaxed its rules regarding draft-eligible players who refuse to enter the draft and active PBA players who leave the league to play in another league locally or internationally. These players are no longer required to "sit out" seasons prior to joining the PBA. The former rule sanctioned these players by barring them from playing in the PBA for at most five years. Foreign-born Filipinos older than 30 years old are also now allowed to join the draft. * The East Asia Super League disbanded the Bay Area Dragons on September 1, 2023, reportedly due to financial reasons. The EASL mentions "conflict of interest" for managing a team and organizing the league at the same time, as the official reason for dissolving the club. * The PBA entered into an acquired agreement with

ZOE Broadcasting Network ZOE Broadcasting Network, Inc. (ZOE TV or ZBNI) is a Philippine broadcast media arm of the Jesus Is Lord Church. Based in Ortigas Center, Pasig, it operates a network of television and radio stations in Mega Manila, Baguio, Bacolod, Cala ...

and

ABS-CBN Corporation ABS-CBN Corporation is a Mass media in the Philippines, Filipino Media conglomerate, media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment television and film production, Broadcast syndication, progra ...

to air the league's games on

A2Z A2Z may refer to: * A2Z (2006 film), a 2006 German action film *A2Z (TV channel) A2Z is a Philippine free-to-air blocktime broadcast television network based in Quezon City, with its studios located in Ortigas Center, Pasig. It serves as a flag ...

. All the

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

programs were temporarily affected by the changes in programming; A2Z's primetime, afternoon and weekend programming are preempted to give way for the PBA games on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Previously, the games were formerly broadcast on TV5.

Commissioner's Cup

NorthPort Batang Pier The NorthPort Batang Pier is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides Nor ...

team manager

Pido Jarencio Alfredo Lorenzo "Pido" Mendoza Jarencio (born September 5, 1964) is a Filipino basketball coach and former professional player. He is the head coach for the UST Growling Tigers of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). ...

was fined

₱ The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...

20,000 for hurling verbal threats at

NLEX Road Warriors The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by Manila North Tollways Corporation, NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014 ...

import Thomas Robinson during an elimination round game between the two teams. * TV5 Network, Inc. entered into an acquired agreement with

Nine Media Corporation Nine Media Corporation (NMC, formerly known as Solar Television Network, Inc. or STVNI) is a Media in the Philippines, Philippine-based media company. Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Entertainment Corporation (SEC), a multimedia t ...

(NMC) to broadcast selected PBA games on

CNN Philippines CNN Philippines (abbreviated sometimes as CNN PH) was a Philippine free-to-air television network owned and operated by Nine Media Corporation, together with Radio Philippines Network (RPN), under a license from Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pa ...

every Saturday and Sunday. * Starting from the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, all PBA games were aired on RPTV, the channel that replaced the now-defunct news channel CNN Philippines.

also canceled the broadcasting of PBA games after the finals' game 5. * The league fined

Converge FiberXers The Converge FiberXers are a professional basketball team owned by Converge ICT. The team competes in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The franchise began after acquiring the former Alaska Aces franchise on March 23, 2022. History ...

Mac Tallo Mark Jayven "Mac" Tallo (born January 2, 1994) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Pangasinan Heatwaves franchise of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and Pilipinas Super League (PSL). Career First PBA stint T ...

₱100,000 and Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters' Chris Lalata ₱50,000 for

infractions. The FiberXers also subsequently terminated Tallo's contract. *

Calvin Abueva Calvin Abueva (born February 4, 1988) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the NorthPort Batang Pier of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was picked second overall by the Alaska Aces during the 2012 PBA Draft. He w ...

was fined ₱100,000 for doing mocking gestures towards

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 Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...

's head coach

Jorge Gallent Jorge Gallent (born June 18, 1968) is a Filipino professional basketball coach and former player. He previously served as the head coach for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). University Athletic Association ...

during game 2 of the

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Philippine Cup

* March 31:

was fined ₱20,000 on flashing a dirty finger. * April 3: The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters wore their throwback 2006 Welcoat Dragons jerseys for the first time. The retro jerseys were worn to honor the first brand the franchise carried from their days participating at the defunct

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 M ...

and their first two seasons in the PBA. * June 1: The league announced that the operations of the

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

will be indefinitely suspended.

Opening ceremonies

Opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

for this season was held at the

Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Quezon City#Cubao, Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

on November 5, 2023, hosted by comedians

Jose Manalo Ariel Pagtalonia Manalo (born February 12, 1966), known professionally as Jose Manalo (), is a Filipino actor, director, and comedian best known for appearing regularly on the noon-time variety show ''Eat Bulaga!'' on GMA Network and now on T ...

and

Wally Bayola Walter James "Wally" Bayola (born May 3, 1972) (), is a Filipino comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Lola Nidora and other characters in the '' Kalyeserye'' portion of the noontime television variety show ''Eat Bulaga!''. He appe ...

. P-pop boy band Alamat were among the guest performers. The PBA Leo Awards for the 2022–23 season were held before the opening ceremonies. The first game of the Commissioner's Cup between the

and the

was played after the opening ceremonies. Below is the list of team muses:

2023–24 PBA Commissioner's Cup

The Commissioner's Cup started on November 5, 2023, and ended on February 14, 2024. The conference is held first instead of the customary Philippine Cup, originally to accommodate guest team Bay Area Dragons which later got disbanded prior to the tournament.

Elimination round

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

*Team has twice-to-beat advantage. Team 1 only has to win once, while Team 2 has to win twice.

Semifinals

Finals

* Finals MVP: CJ Perez * Best Player of the Conference: CJ Perez *Bobby Parks Best Import of the Conference:

Johnathan Williams Johnathan Lee Williams III (born May 22, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Qadsia SC of the WASL Gulf League. He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He spent two seasons with the University of Missour ...

2024 PBA Philippine Cup

Elimination round

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

*Team has twice-to-beat advantage. Team 1 only has to win once, while Team 2 has to win twice.

Semifinals

Finals

* Finals MVP:

Chris Newsome Christopher Elijah Duque Newsome (born July 25, 1990) is a Filipino American professional basketball player for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Early life Newsome was born in San Jose, California. He is the sec ...

* Best Player of the Conference: June Mar Fajardo

Awards

Leo Awards

* Most Valuable Player: June Mar Fajardo ( San Miguel) * Rookie of the Year: Stephen Holt ( Terrafirma) * Most Improved Player: Jhonard Clarito ( Rain or Shine) * First Mythical Team: ** June Mar Fajardo ( San Miguel) **

Christian Standhardinger Christian Karl Hermoso Standhardinger (born July 4, 1989) is a Filipino-German professional basketball player who last played for the Terrafirma Dyip of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He has won four List of Philippine Basketball ...

( Barangay Ginebra) **

Arvin Tolentino Arvin Dave de Leon Tolentino (born November 5, 1995) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Seoul SK Knights of the Korean Basketball League (KBL). He also serves as an assistant coach for the PSP Gymers of the Women's Maharlika ...

( NorthPort) ** CJ Perez ( San Miguel) **

(

Meralco The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco (, , stylized in uppercase), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 3 ...

) * Second Mythical Team: ** Cliff Hodge (

) ** Calvin Oftana (

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

) ** Jason Perkins ( Phoenix) ** Stephen Holt ( Terrafirma) ** Juami Tiongson ( Terrafirma) * All-Defensive Team: ** Cliff Hodge (

) ** June Mar Fajardo ( San Miguel) ** Kemark Cariño ( Terrafirma) ** Joshua Munzon ( NorthPort) **

(

) *

Samboy Lim Avelino "Samboy" Borromeo Lim Jr. (April 1, 1962 – December 23, 2023), nicknamed "The Skywalker", was a Filipino professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association and the national team in the 1980s and 1990s. As a hi ...

Sportsmanship Award: Paul Zamar ( NorthPort)

PBA Press Corps annual awards

* Defensive Player of the Year: Cliff Hodge (

) * Scoring Champion: Robert Bolick (

NLEX The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and partially as R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a controlled-access highway that ...

) *

Baby Dalupan Virgilio "Baby" Adam Dalupan (October 19, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Filipino basketball coach and player. Dubbed "The Maestro", Dalupan was best known for his lengthy coaching tenure with the Crispa Redmanizers and garnered a career tot ...

Coaches of the Year:

Luigi Trillo Luis Antonio Crisostomo Trillo, (born July 13, 1975) better known as Luigi Trillo, is the head coach of Meralco Bolts in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was the former head coach of the Alaska Aces, and Cebuana Lhuillier Gems in the ...

, Gene Afable,

, Sandro Soriano,

Nenad Vučinić Nenad Vučinić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Вучинић; born 7 April 1965) is a Serbian-New Zealand basketball coach and former player. He was once interim head coach for the Philippines men's national basketball team, with Chot Reyes replacing hi ...

Norman Black Norman Augustus Black (born November 12, 1957) is the current Consultant to the San Beda University Red Lions Basketball team playing in the NCAA Philippines. He is a former professional basketball player who played in the CBA, NBA, and PBA. ...

(

) * Mr. Quality Minutes:

Bong Quinto Kier John "Bong" R. Quinto (born December 15, 1994) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). College and amateur career Quinto played his college career with the Letran K ...

(

) *

Bogs Adornado William "Bogs" Adornado (born May 26, 1951) is a Filipino professional basketball coach and former player. He is one of the Philippine Basketball Association's Greatest Players and was inducted to its Hall of Fame in 2005. He was a three-time ...

Comeback Players of the Year: **

Ian Sangalang Ian Paul Mendoza Sangalang (born December 20, 1991) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted 2nd overall by the San Mig Super Coffee ...

(

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

) **

LA Tenorio Lewis Alfred Vasquez Tenorio (born July 9, 1984) is a Filipino professional basketball player and an assistant coach for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is also the head coach of the Gilas You ...

( Barangay Ginebra) * Danny Floro Executive of the Year:

Alfrancis Chua Alfrancis P. Chua (born January 17, 1966) is a Filipino sports executive and former basketball player and coach. He is currently the team manager of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the sports director of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), overseei ...

( Barangay Ginebra) * Order of Merit: June Mar Fajardo ( San Miguel) *All-Rookie Team: ** Kemark Cariño ( Terrafirma) ** Cade Flores ( NorthPort) ** Stephen Holt ( Terrafirma) ** Adrian Nocum ( Rain or Shine) ** Kenneth Tuffin ( Phoenix) * Game of the Season:

vs. San Miguel (June 16, 2024, Philippine Cup finals game 6) * Lifetime Achievement Award:

Robert Jaworski Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr. (; born March 8, 1946), also known by his nicknames Sonny, Big J, and Jawo (), is a Filipino former professional basketball player, head coach and politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines fro ...

(

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

/ Ginebra) * President's Award:

Tim Cone Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who leads Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Philippine men's national team. He is the most accomplished coa ...

( Barangay Ginebra / Gilas Pilipinas)

Cumulative standings

Elimination round

Playoffs

This includes

one-game playoff A one-game playoff, sometimes known as a pennant playoff, tiebreaker game or knockout game, is a tiebreaker in certain sports—usually but not always professional—to determine which of two teams, tied in the final standings, will qualify for a ...

s to determine the last playoff participant.

PBA teams in Asian club competitions

3x3

The 3x3 season started on July 3, 2023, and ended on February 19, 2024.

First conference

Second conference

Third conference

Notes

References

External links

PBA official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:PBA season 2023–24 in Philippine basketball leagues