1996 PBA season

Duration	February 18 – December 17, 1996
Number of teams	8
TV partner(s)	Vintage Sports (IBC)
1996 PBA Draft
Top draft pick	Marlou Aquino
Picked by	Ginebra San Miguel
Season MVP	Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska Milkmen)
All-Filipino Cup champions	Alaska Milkmen
All-Filipino Cup runners-up	Purefoods TJ Hotdogs
Commissioner's Cup champions	Alaska Milkmen
Commissioner's Cup runners-up	Formula Shell Zoom Masters
Governors Cup champions	Alaska Milkmen
Governors Cup runners-up	Ginebra San Miguel
Seasons
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 PBA season was the 22nd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Board of governors

Executive committee

Jun Bernardino (Commissioner)
Teodoro L. Dimayuga (Chairman, representing Purefoods TJ Hotdogs)
Nazario L. Avendaño (Vice-Chairman, representing San Miguel Beermen)
Dr. Antonio V. Concepcion (Treasurer, representing Ginebra San Miguel)

Teams

Team	Company	Governor	Alternate Governor
Alaska Milkmen	Alaska Milk Corporation	Wilfred Steven Uytengsu	Joaquin Trillo
Formula Shell Zoommasters	Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation	Reynaldo Gamboa	Eliseo Santiago
Ginebra San Miguel	La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.	Dr. Antonio Concepcion	Bernabe Navarro, Jr.
Pepsi Mega/Mobiline Cellulars	Lapanday Holdings Corporation	Luis F. Lorenzo
Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	Purefoods Corporation	Teodoro Dimayuga	Eliezer Capacio
San Miguel Beermen	San Miguel Corporation	Nazario Avendaño	Eddie Veneracion
Sta. Lucia Realtors	Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Corporation	Manuel Encarnado	Vicente Santos
Sunkist Orange Juicers	RFM Corporation	Elmer Yanga	Aurora Timbol

Season highlights

The league's broadcast partner, Vintage Sports, switched networks from People's Television to Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation. They also changed their primary language from English to Tagalog.
Crowd-favorite Ginebra San Miguel return to their winning ways after years of being a doormat with the entry of top draft pick, 6-9 Marlou Aquino, the Ginebras advances in the semifinals for the first time in three years during the All-Filipino Cup, their season was highlighted by a finals trip in the third conference, losing to grandslam champions Alaska Milkmen.
The Pepsi Mega Bottlers sold their franchise to PILTEL and was renamed Mobiline Cellulars at the start of the Commissioner's Cup.
The Alaska Milkmen became the fourth team to win the PBA Grand slam by sweeping all three conferences of the season, joining the 1976 and 1983 Crispa Redmanizers and the 1989 San Miguel Beermen. ^[1]
Johnny Abarrientos became the first pure guard to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award since Ricardo Brown in 1985. ^[2]

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Team	Muse
Alaska Milkmen	Anamarie Pukon and Sharon Fuentes
Formula Shell	Teresa Herrera
Ginebra San Miguel	Amanda Page
Pepsi Mega	Maricel Morales (Mutya ng Pilipinas)
Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	Chantal Umali
San Miguel Beermen	Candice Coral and Gracia
Sta. Lucia Realtors	Cara Sobejano and Abigail Arenas
Sunkist Orange Juicers	Vina Morales

Champions

All-Filipino Cup: Alaska Milkmen
Commissioner's Cup: Alaska Milkmen
Governor's Cup: Alaska Milkmen
Team with best win–loss percentage: Alaska Milkmen (51-21, .708)
Best Team of the Year: Alaska Milkmen (1st)

All-Filipino Cup

Main article: 1996 PBA All-Filipino Cup

Elimination round

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Alaska Milkmen	10	4	.714	—	Advance to semifinals
2	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	9	5	.643	1
3	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	8	6	.571	2
4	San Miguel Beermen	8	6	.571	2
5	Ginebra San Miguel	7	7	.500	3
6	Sta. Lucia Realtors	6	8	.429	4
7	Sunkist Orange Juicers	4	10	.286	6
8	Pepsi Mega Bottlers	4	10	.286	6

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Semifinal round

Cumulative standings

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	14	8	.636	—	Advance to the Finals^[a]
2	Alaska Milkmen	13	9	.591	1	Guaranteed Finals berth playoff
3	Ginebra San Miguel	12	10	.545^[b]	2	Qualify to Finals berth playoff
4	San Miguel Beermen	12	10	.545^[b]	2	Proceed to third-place playoff
5	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	11	11	.500	3

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ If a team outside the top two teams wins at least five semifinal round games, then it and the second-placed team will playoff for the last Finals berth; otherwise, the top 2 teams qualify outright.
^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: Ginebra 3–1 San Miguel

Semifinal round standings:

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	Qualification
1	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	6	2
2	Ginebra San Miguel	5	3	Qualify to Finals berth playoff^[a]
3	San Miguel Beermen	4	4
4	Alaska Milkmen	3	5
5	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	2	6

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Purefoods qualified outright as #1 seeded team; Finals berth playoff: Alaska 96–83 Ginebra

Third place playoff

Team 1	Score	Team 2
(3) Ginebra San Miguel	99–100	(4) San Miguel Beermen

Finals

Main article: 1996 PBA All-Filipino Cup Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
(1) Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	1–4	(2) Alaska Milkmen	77–78	79–86	99–87	62–75	92–93 (OT)	—	—

Finals MVP: Jojo Lastimosa (Alaska)
Best Player of the Conference: Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)

Commissioner's Cup

Main article: 1996 PBA Commissioner's Cup

Elimination round

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Alaska Milkmen	8	2	.800	—	Advance to semifinals
2	Ginebra San Miguel	6	4	.600^[a]	2
3	Sta. Lucia Realtors	6	4	.600^[a]	2
4	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	5	5	.500^[b]	3
5	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	5	5	.500^[b]	3
6	Sunkist Orange Juicers	5	5	.500^[b]	3
7	San Miguel Beermen	4	6	.400	4
8	Mobiline Cellulars	1	9	.100	7

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: Ginebra 1–0 Sta. Lucia
^ ^a ^b ^c Head-to-head quotient: Shell 1.170, Purefoods 1.050, Sunkist 0.861; 5th-seed playoff: Purefoods 89–76 Sunkist

Semifinal round

Cumulative standings

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Alaska Milkmen	14	4	.778	—	Advance to the Finals^[a]
2	Ginebra San Miguel	12	6	.667	2	Guaranteed Finals berth playoff
3	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	10	8	.556	4	Qualify to Finals berth playoff
4	Sta. Lucia Realtors	8	10	.444	6	Proceed to third-place playoff
5	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	6	12	.333	8

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ If a team outside the top two teams wins at least five semifinal round games, then it and the second-placed team will playoff for the last Finals berth; otherwise, the top 2 teams qualify outright.

Semifinal round standings:

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	Qualification
1	Alaska Milkmen	6	2
2	Ginebra San Miguel	6	2
3	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	5	3	Qualify to Finals berth playoff^[a]
4	Sta. Lucia Realtors	2	6
5	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	1	7

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Alaska advanced to the Finals outright as #1 seeded team, Ginebra guaranteed finals berth playoff as #2 seeded team; Finals berth playoff: Shell 89–86 Ginebra

Third place playoff

Team 1	Score	Team 2
(2) Ginebra San Miguel	106–111	(4) Sta. Lucia Realtors

Finals

Main article: 1996 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
(1) Alaska Milkmen	4–3	(3) Formula Shell Zoom Masters	82–85	93–86	77–85	79–76	70–63	85–88	83–77

Finals MVP: Bong Hawkins (Alaska)
Best Player of the Conference: Bong Hawkins (Alaska)
Best Import of the Conference: Ken Redfield (Formula Shell)

Governors' Cup

Main article: 1996 PBA Governors' Cup

Elimination round

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Alaska Milkmen	8	3	.727	—	Advance to semifinals
2	Ginebra San Miguel	7	4	.636	1	Advance to semifinals
3	San Miguel Beermen	6	5	.545^[a]	2	Twice-to-beat in quarterfinals
4	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	6	5	.545^[a]	2	Twice-to-beat in quarterfinals
5	Sunkist Orange Bottlers	5	6	.455^[b]	3	Twice-to-win in quarterfinals
6	Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	5	6	.455^[b]	3	Twice-to-win in quarterfinals
7	Sta. Lucia Realtors	5	6	.455^[b]	3
8	Mobiline Cellulars	2	9	.182	6

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: San Miguel 1–0 Shell
^ ^a ^b ^c Head-to-head quotient: Sunkist 1.066, Purefoods 0.986, Sta. Lucia 0.951; 6th-seed playoff: Purefoods 81–76 Sta. Lucia

Playoffs

Quarterfinals (Higher seeds twice-to-beat)				Semifinals (Best-of-5 series)			Finals (Best-of-7 series)

				1	Alaska	3
4	Shell	100	104	4	Shell	0
5	Sunkist	107	101				1	Alaska	4
							2	Ginebra	1
				2	Ginebra	3
3	San Miguel	91*	89	3	San Miguel	1
6	Purefoods	97	86				Third place

							4	Shell	103
							3	San Miguel	99

Finals

Main article: 1996 PBA Governors' Cup Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
(1) Alaska Milkmen	4–1	(2) Ginebra San Miguel	90–79	110–105	95–82	96–97	91–83	—	—

Finals MVP: Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
Best Player of the Conference: Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)
Best Import of the Conference: Sean Chambers (Alaska)

Awards

Most Valuable Player: Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
Rookie of the Year: Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)
Sportsmanship Award: Jerry Codiñera (Purefoods)
Most Improved Player: Edward "Poch" Juinio (Alaska)
Defensive Player of the Year: Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)
Mythical Five:
- Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
- Rene Hawkins, Jr. (Alaska)
- Jojo Lastimosa (Alaska)
- Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)
- Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)
Mythical Second Team:
- Bal David (Ginebra)
- Noli Locsin (Ginebra)
- Jeffrey Cariaso (Alaska)
- Benjie Paras (Shell)
- Nelson Asaytono (San Miguel)
All Defensive Team:
- Jerry Codiñera (Purefoods)
- Chris Jackson (Sta. Lucia)
- Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
- Jeffrey Cariaso (Alaska)
- Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

Coach of the Year: Tim Cone (Alaska)
Mr. Quality Minutes: Gilbert "Jun" Reyes, Jr. (Alaska)
Executive of the Year: Jun Bernardino (PBA Commissioner)
Comeback Player of the Year: Richie Ticzon (Shell)
Referee of the Year: Ogie Bernarte

Cumulative standings

Team	GP	W	L	PCT
Alaska Milkmen	72	51	21	.708
Ginebra San Miguel	64	35	29	.547
Formula Shell Zoom Masters	65	33	32	.508
San Miguel Beermen	51	25	26	.490
Purefoods TJ Hotdogs	60	29	31	.483
Sta. Lucia Realtors	45	20	25	.444
Sunkist Orange Juicers/Bottlers	38	16	22	.421
Pepsi Mega/Mobiline Cellulars	35	7	28	.200

References

^ "It's our time - Alaska's Cone". Manila Standard.
^ "Abarrientos is PBA's '96 MVP". Manila Standard.

1996 PBA season

Team seasons

Succession

1995

All-Filipino Cup

1997

1995

Commissioner's Cup
1997

1995

Governors' Cup
1997

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