# 1996 PBA season

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.
* Johnny Abarrientos became the first pure guard to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award since Ricardo Brown in 1985.

## 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
### Elimination round

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

### Semifinal round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 14 | 8 | .636 | — | Advance to the finals |
| 2 | Alaska Milkmen | 13 | 9 | .591 | 1 | Guaranteed finals berth playoff |
| 3 | Ginebra San Miguel | 12 | 10 | .545 | 2 | Qualify to finals berth playoff |
| 4 | San Miguel Beermen | 12 | 10 | .545 | 2 | Proceed to third-place playoff |
| 5 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 11 | 11 | .500 | 3 | |
| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | Qualification |
| 1 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 6 | 2 | |
| 2 | Ginebra San Miguel | 5 | 3 | Qualify to finals berth playoff |
| 3 | San Miguel Beermen | 4 | 4 | |
| 4 | Alaska Milkmen | 3 | 5 | |
| 5 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 2 | 6 | |

### Third place playoff

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

### 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
### Elimination round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Alaska Milkmen | 8 | 2 | .800 | — | Semifinal round |
| 2 | Ginebra San Miguel | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Semifinal round |
| 3 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Semifinal round |
| 4 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3 | Semifinal round |
| 5 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3 | Semifinal round |
| 6 | Sunkist Orange Juicers | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3 | |
| 7 | San Miguel Beermen | 4 | 6 | .400 | 4 | |
| 8 | Mobiline Cellulars | 1 | 9 | .100 | 7 | |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Ginebra 1–0 Sta. Lucia
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head quotient: Shell 1.170, Purefoods 1.050, Sunkist 0.861; semifinal round berth playoff: Purefoods 89–76 Sunkist

### Semifinal round

| Pos | Teamvte | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Alaska Milkmen | 14 | 4 | .778 | — | Advance to the finals |
| 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 | |
| Pos | Teamvte | 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 |
| 4 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 2 | 6 | |
| 5 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 1 | 7 | |

### Third-place playoff

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

### 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
### Elimination round

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | 2 | Twice-to-beat in quarterfinals |
| 4 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 6 | 5 | .545 | 2 | Twice-to-beat in quarterfinals |
| 5 | Sunkist Orange Bottlers | 5 | 6 | .455 | 3 | Twice-to-win in quarterfinals |
| 6 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs | 5 | 6 | .455 | 3 | Twice-to-win in quarterfinals |
| 7 | Sta. Lucia Realtors | 5 | 6 | .455 | 3 | |
| 8 | Mobiline Cellulars | 2 | 9 | .182 | 6 | |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: San Miguel 1–0 Shell
* 1 2 3 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) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds twice-to-beat) | Semifinals (best-of-5 series) | Semifinals (best-of-5 series) | Semifinals (best-of-5 series) | Finals (best-of-7 series) | Finals (best-of-7 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 | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | | 4 | Shell | 103 |
| | | | | | | | 3 | San Miguel | 99 |

### 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 |