# 1998–99 Philippine Basketball League season

The 1998–99 season of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).

## TV coverage

PTV 4, in partnership with Silverstar Sports as the line producer, covered the PBL games.

## 1998 (1st) Centennial Cup
### Participating teams (coach)

* Batang Red Bull (Nat Canson)
* Dr.J Rubbing Alcohol (Leo Isaac)
* Zest-O Juice Drink (Mollet Pineda)
* Welcoat Paints (Gabby Velasco)
* Tanduay Centennial Rhum (Alfrancis Chua)
* Chowking Oriental Fastfood (Arturo Cristobal)
* Wilkins Distilled Water (Arlene Rodriguez)

### Finals series

* PTV-4
* July 2
* recap
* Makati Coliseum, Makati
* PTV-4
* July 4
* recap
* Makati Coliseum, Makati
* PTV-4
* July 6
Tanduay Centennial Rhum 71, Batang Red Bull 65 :
* Tanduay wins series, 3-0 ||
* Makati Coliseum, Makati
Tanduay scored a 3–0 sweep over Red Bull in the 1st Yakult-PBL Centennial Cup finals. The Rhum Masters clinch the title with a 71-65 victory in Game three.

## 1998-99 (2nd) Centennial Cup
### Participating teams (coach)

* Batang Red Bull (Nat Canson)
* Dr.J Rubbing Alcohol/ANA Water Dispenser (Leo Isaac)
* Welcoat Paints (Gabby Velasco)
* Tanduay Centennial Rhum (Alfrancis Chua)
* Chowking Oriental Fastfood (Leo Austria)
* Blu Detergent *New team
* Paralux Auto Paints *New team

### Finals series

* PTV-4
* January 11
* Makati Coliseum, Makati
* PTV-4
* January 14
* Makati Coliseum, Makati
* PTV-4
* January 16
* Makati Coliseum, Makati
* PTV-4
* January 18
* Makati Coliseum, Makati
* PTV-4
* January 21
Dr.J-ANA 62, Tanduay Gold Rhum 59 :
* Dr.J-ANA wins series, 3-2 ||
* Makati Coliseum, Makati
Tanduay Rhum Masters strung up 18 straight victories (18-0) in the 2nd Yakult-PBL Centennial Cup, before newcomer Blu Detergents halted their winning run. Tanduay wound up with a 19–1 win–loss record going into the finals.
Dr.J/ANA Water Dispenser won their first-ever PBL crown with a 3-2 series win over Tanduay and denied the Rhum Masters on what could have been a grand exit for the multi-titled ballclub as the Lucio Tan franchise leaped to the pro ranks.

## All-Star game

A PBL All-Star game was held in December 1998, Tanduay's Eric Menk leads the PBL-UAAP selection while Asi Taulava of Blu Detergent beef up the PBL-NCAA Hapee selection. The North vs South All-Star game had Yakult-South being coach by Leo Austria while the North All-Stars was handled by Gabby Velasco.

## Women's Philippine Basketball League (WPBL)

PBL Commissioner Yeng Guiao came up with the formation of the first-ever women's league in the PBL in mid-October to spice up the 2nd conference, among the teams which participated in the Women's Philippine Basketball League are Dr J/Ana Dispenser, Dreyers Ice Cream, Welcoat Paints, Ever Bilena, Tanduay, Chowking and Paralux/Ironcon. Notable WPBL cagebelles were former RP team members Mitchell Jimenez (Paralux), Ana Marie Tinasas (Dreyers), Joanna Franquelli (Ana Dispenser), Mary Ellen Caasi and Cherry Maralit (Welcoat), and four-time SEA games campaigner and silver medal winning-RP team in the Chiang Mai games, Julie Amos of Ever Bilena.
On December 28, 1998, Ever Bilena won the first Birch Tree-Women's PBL crown with a nail-biting 52-51 victory over Chowking at the Makati Coliseum.