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The Air21 Express was a professional
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 (appro ...
team 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 Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...
(PBA) that debuted in the 2011–12 season. The team debuted as the Shopinas.com Clickers during the 2011–12 PBA Philippine Cup. In 2014, the franchise was sold to Manila North Tollways Corporation (a subsidiary of
Metro Pacific Investments Corporation Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) is a Philippine unit investment holding company of First Pacific Company Limited through Metro Pacific Holdings, Inc. MPIC through its subsidiaries, provides water, sanitation, and sewerage servic ...
) and was renamed as the
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 ...
.


History

Energy Food and Drink Inc., owner of the original
Barako Bull Energy Boosters The Barako Bull Energy Boosters were a professional basketball team of the Philippine Basketball Association owned by the Photokina Marketing Corporation. They entered the league in 2000, after a successful stint in the semi-professional Phili ...
franchise, had informed the PBA board in March 2011 that they intend to fold, citing the plan to shift their business strategy due to its ongoing lawsuit against TC Pharmaceuticals Industries Co. (manufacturer of
Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...
in Thailand) and the death of board governor Tony Chua at the height of Tropical Storm Ondoy (Ketsana). Barako Bull had been on leave since the 2011 PBA Commissioner's Cup and was planning to sell the franchise to Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., the sponsor of the league's games outside
Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...
. On the PBA board meeting, the board disallowed the sale of the franchise to Phoenix, failing to get at least two-thirds of the ten board members, although they allowed Barako Bull to stay on leave until the
2011 PBA Governors Cup The 2011 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors' Cup is the third and last conference of the 2010-11 PBA season. The tournament started on June 11 and ended on August 21. The Barako Bull Energy Boosters have extended their leave of a ...
. In June 2011, Barako Bull informed the PBA it intended to sell its franchise to the Lina Group of Companies (LGC), owner of the
Air21 Express Air21 Express may refer to * Barako Bull Energy, Philippine basketball team named as "Air21 Express" from 2005 to 2009, and from 2010 to 2011 * Air21 Express (2012–2014) The Air21 Express was a professional basketball team in the Philippine B ...
franchise, reportedly for 50 million pesos. In July 2011, the board approved Barako Bull's sale to Airfreight 2100, while deferring the new franchise's concession that might be given to the team to improve its roster. Air21's Manny Alvarez mentioned that the second Lina Group franchise will be named "Shopinas.com", named after its new company that focuses into
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...
, and that the new team's representative would be Shiela Lina, who is then forming the team's coaching staff.


Shopinas.com Clickers

Former
De La Salle Green Archers The De La Salle Green Archers and Lady Archers are the varsity teams representing De La Salle University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, among other leagues. The "Green Archer" is the traditional university mascot. Whi ...
coach
Franz Pumaren Franz Santos Pumaren (born February 5, 1962) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and coach who is serving as the House of Representatives of the Philippines, representative for Quezon City's Quezon City's 3rd congressional distr ...
was named as head coach. Pumaren, who has coached the La Salle men's varsity basketball team to five
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 Univ ...
(UAAP) basketball titles, resigned as La Salle coach in 2009 to concentrate on his political career. As a result of the old Barako Bull franchise trading away their best players, the franchise asked PBA commissioner
Chito Salud Angelico Tiu Salud (born June 17, 1962), better known as Chito Salud, is a Filipino lawyer and sports executive who currently serves as team governor of the Converge Fiber Xers in PBA. He was the first president and CEO of the Philippine Basket ...
for concessions in the
2011 PBA Draft The 2011 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Basketball Association draft, rookie draft was an event at which teams drafted players from the amateur ranks. The event was held at Robinson's Place Ermita in Manila on August 28, 2011 ...
, pending approval from the PBA board. The board eventually approved to give the team the first pick for the second round (11th overall). The Clickers selected
Mark Barroca Andy Mark C. Barroca (born April 25, 1986) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He currently wears the number 14 to imply the birthdate of his ...
,
Magi Sison Magi King Sison (born May 24, 1988) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Mindoro Tamaraws of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional profe ...
and
Mark Cagoco Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...
in the
2011 PBA Draft The 2011 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Basketball Association draft, rookie draft was an event at which teams drafted players from the amateur ranks. The event was held at Robinson's Place Ermita in Manila on August 28, 2011 ...
. Barroca was eventually sent to the
B-Meg Llamados San Miguel Corporation (), abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate with headquarters in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally fou ...
for Brian Ilad and Elmer Espiritu in a three-way trade with
Barako Bull Energy The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fiesta C ...
. The team finished the Philippine Cup eliminations with a 0–14 record, setting a new all-time record for consecutive losses in a single conference, which was previously held by the 1982 Great Taste Discoverers (Reinforced Filipino Conference) and the 1984 Country Fair Hotdogs (2nd All-Filipino Conference).


Air21 Express

After a disappointing finish in the Philippine Cup, the Lina Group decided to rename the franchise as the Air21 Express, the name that was previously carried by their sister team,
Barako Bull Energy The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fiesta C ...
. Before the Commissioner's Cup started, the team traded Mark Canlas, Dennis Daa, and a 2012 first round pick to the Meralco Bolts in exchange for bigmen Nelbert Omolon and
Mark Isip Mark Gracer P. Isip (born December 10, 1980 ) is a Filipino professional basketball coach and former player. Isip played college basketball for the FEU Tamaraws, where he is currently an assistant coach. He was then drafted sixth overall by the ...
. The team had signed SMART-Gilas player
Marcus Douthit Marcus Eugene Douthit (born April 15, 1980) is a Filipino-American former basketball player. He graduated from Providence College. After his stint with the Providence Friars, he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball As ...
as their import for the Commissioner's Cup. Despite having Douthit as import, the team failed to pass through the elimination round, only finishing with a 3–6 record. After years of failed campaigns, Air 21 led by 42-year-old Asi Taulava qualified for the 2014 PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinals and defeated the second-seeded
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 ...
twice in a row to enter the PBA semifinals for the first time in franchise history. However, they were beaten by the eventual champions San Mig Super Coffee Mixers in their semifinals series that extended to a Game 5.


Sale of the franchise to NLEX

In March 2014, the Manila North Tollways Corporation (
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 ...
), together with Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc. ( Blackwater Sports) and Columbian Autocar Corporation (
Kia Sorento The Kia Sorento () is a series of two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive family SUVs manufactured by the South Korean manufacturer Kia since 2002 through four generations. Initially a compact SUV built on a body-on-frame chassis, the second-g ...
), applied for an expansion franchise in the PBA. Their respective applications were approved by the PBA board of governors on March 7, 2014. While Kia and Blackwater have paid the franchise fee set by the league, MNTC requested for an extension, as they were studying whether to enter the PBA as an expansion team or acquire an existing PBA franchise. This is due to the limited concessions given by the league to the expansion teams, namely the "protect 12" policy for the expansion draft, no direct hires or carry-over players from their
PBA D-League The PBA D-League, or PBA Developmental League, is the official minor league of the Philippine Basketball Association. History The PBA D-League was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Philippine Basketball Leag ...
teams, and the 11th to 16th pick in the upcoming rookie draft. On June 17, 2014, MNTC announced that it was having negotiations with a PBA team to acquire their franchise. Due to the ongoing Governors' Cup playoffs, MNTC did not identify the team they were negotiating with, but stated it will reveal the team's identity once the team was eliminated. Days later, the team was revealed to be Air21 Express. On June 23, 2014, an agreement was reached between MNTC and the Lina Group of Companies regarding the sale of the Air21 Express PBA franchise to MNTC. The sale was approved during the regular monthly meeting of the board of governors, paving the way for the sale of the franchise to MNTC.


Final roster


Season-by-season records

:''Records from the
2013–14 PBA season The 2013–14 PBA season was the 39th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The season formally opened on November 17, 2013, and finished on July 9, 2014. The league continued to use the three-conference format, starting with t ...
:'' *one-game playoffs
**team had the twice-to-beat advantage


Retired numbers

*  – retired on December 18, 2013. Meneses wore #18 during his stint for the Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola franchise from 1993 to 1999. He played for the old FedEx/Air21 franchise (known as the
Barako Bull Energy The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fiesta C ...
until 2016) from 2002 to 2004, wearing jersey #8.Caguioa all praises for old Ginebra mentor Meneses: ‘Parang Jordan of the Philippines’
, Rey Joble, InterAKSYON, December 18, 2013


Awards


Individual awards


PBA Press Corps Individual Awards


All-Star Weekend


See also

* Shopinas.com Lady Clickers (
PSL PSL may refer to: Sport *Pakistan Super League, a Twenty20 cricket league *Palau Soccer League, top division association football league in Palau *Pilipinas Super League, a professional basketball league *Philippine Super Liga, a defunct profes ...
women's volleyball team)


References


External links


Official Website
{{PBAdefunct Defunct Philippine Basketball Association teams Basketball teams established in 2011 Basketball teams disestablished in 2014 2011 establishments in the Philippines 2014 disestablishments in the Philippines