# Metropolitan Basketball Association

The Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), also shortened as Metroball, was a professional basketball league in the Philippines that ran for five seasons from 1998 until 2002.
The MBA was established to rival the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The MBA contained between 8 and 15 teams which represented cities and provinces who played at home and away. Initially, the league was divided into two conferences: the Northern Conference for teams based in Luzon and the Southern Conference for teams based in Visayas and Mindanao. At the end of each season, the champions of each conference faced each other at the MBA National Finals to determine the league champion. Later, the MBA allowed companies to sponsor teams and attach their brand to the teams' names—and by the final season, used a three-conference format. The MBA's rules also differed slightly from the basic rules of basketball.
Each of the five seasons had a different champion: the Pampanga Dragons, Manila Metrostars, San Juan Knights, Batangas Blades, and Negros Slashers. The Negros Slashers had the most finals appearances, with four. The Northern Conference produced the most champions, with four, while the Southern Conference produced only one. A total of sixteen teams have competed in the MBA.
MBA games were broadcast on ABS-CBN Corporation's television networks. ABS-CBN also provided funding for the league. The MBA folded in 2002 due to high costs of maintaining the league and ABS-CBN withdrawing its funding.

## History

The MBA played its first game on March 7, 1998 at the Don Narciso Ramos Sports Complex in Lingayen, Pangasinan. The MBA was widely viewed as broadcast giant ABS-CBN's attempt to undermine the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after failing to snatch its broadcast rights in 1998, even as far as raid the PBA for talent in order to compete.
Metroball allowed foreigners to play for their teams, not requiring Philippine passports of them, nor requiring those foreigners to have Filipino blood. All the league required was that these players be born in the Philippines.
As a direct result of this practice, the MBA and its foreign-born players began attracting attention away from the PBA, forcing the PBA to escalate their own players' salaries and practically rendering the PBA draft useless through a "direct hiring" process. This allowed PBA teams like Talk 'N Text and Tanduay to negotiate directly with MBA players or MBA prospects (like Asi Taulava and Sonny Alvarado) for their services.
The league then folded on July 26, 2002, due to the high expenses in funding a regional basketball league, with ABS-CBN also withdrawing the funding for the league. Several players went to the semi-professional Philippine Basketball League en route to the PBA.

## Format

The MBA had a format similar to that of North America's National Basketball Association (NBA). The teams were divided into two conferences: the Northern Conference composed of Luzon-based teams, and the Southern Conference composed of Visayas- and Mindanao-based teams. The season concluded with the MBA National Finals, where the champions of both conferences face off to determine the season champions.
After the league adapted a semi-commercial format, in which teams are sponsored by companies, several methods were used to in determining the champion. In their final season, they have adapted a three-conference format, similar with the PBA.

## Teams
### Northern Conference

* Batangas Blades (1998–2002; team merged with Manila in 2001, known as LBC-Batangas Blades)
* Laguna Lakers (1998–2001; team abandoned the league after their owners FedEx joined the PBA in 2002)
* Manila Metrostars (1998–2001; team merged with Batangas in 2001)
* Nueva Ecija Patriots (1999–2001)
* Olongapo Volunteers (2002) (team renamed as Gilbey's-Olongapo Volunteers in 2002)
* Pampanga Dragons (also known as Pampanga Stars) (1998–2000; 2002)
* Pangasinan Presidents (also known as Pangasinan Waves) (1998–1999; 2002)
* Pasig-Rizal Pirates (1998–2000) (also known as Pasig Blue Pirates in 1998)
* San Juan Knights (1999–2001) (team renamed as Andok's-San Juan Knights in 2001)

### Southern Conference

* Cebu Gems (1998–2002; team renamed as the Cebuana Lhullier Gems in 2001)
* Davao Eagles (1998–2002)
* Cagayan de Oro Amigos (also known as Cagayan de Oro Nuggets) (1998–2000; 2002)
* Iloilo Megavoltz (also known as Iloilo Volts) (1998–2000)
* Negros Slashers (Bacolod) (1998–2002; team renamed as the RCPI-Negros Slashers in 2002)
* SocSarGen Marlins (1998–2001; team renamed as the Taguig Marlins in 2001 when the team relocated to Taguig)
* Surigao Miners/Warriors (1999–2000)
| Teams | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| Batangas Blades / LBC-Batangas Blades | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Cagayan de Oro Nuggets/Amigos / Casino CDO Amigos | Y | Y | Y | | Y |
| Cebu Gems / Cebuana Lhuillier Gems | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Davao Eagles / Professional Davao Eagles | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Iloilo Volts/Megavoltz | Y | Y | Y | | |
| Laguna Lakers / FedEx-Laguna Lakers | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Manila Metrostars | Y | Y | Y | | |
| Negros Slashers / RCPI-Negros Slashers | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Nueva Ecija Patriots | | Y | Y | Y | |
| Gilbey's-Olongapo Volunteers | | | | | Y |
| Pampanga Dragons/Stars | Y | Y | Y | | Y |
| Pangasinan Presidents / Osaka Pangasinan Waves | Y | Y | | | Y |
| Pasig Blue Pirates/Pasig-Rizal Pirates | Y | Y | Y | | |
| San Juan Knights / Andok's-San Juan Knights | | Y | Y | Y | |
| SocSarGen Marlins / Taguig Marlins | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Surigao Miners/Warriors | | Y | Y | | |

## Rules

The MBA had a set of its unique rules compared to the PBA:
* The shot clock was reduced to 23 seconds, as opposed to the PBA's 24 seconds.
* The time limit for a team to advance the ball over the center line was reduced to eight seconds, as opposed to PBA's 10 seconds. The PBA later adopted the 8-second limit in 2004, two years after the MBA disbanded.
* Free-three - An option to trade a player's two free throws for a free three (one attempt at the three-point arc above the free throw line, worth three points if successfully made) at the last two minutes of the fourth quarter. This option was later made available any time during the game by 1999.
* One-for-one situation - There were two penalty situations in the MBA, first is if the team fouls of the opposing team reaches five fouls, the fouled player needed to shoot the first free throw before getting the second. Two free throws were only given to a player if the opposing team incurred seven team fouls.
* Blitz Three - Any field goal converted within five seconds of a change of possession will be worth three points. A red siren is installed at the backboard to indicate the Blitz Period. (introduced in 2001)
* Foreigners were allowed to play in the league, provided that the player is born in the Philippines.

## MBA Most Valuable Players

| Season | Player | Team | College |
| 1998 | John Ferriols | Negros | USJ-R |
| 1999 | Alex Compton | Manila | Cornell |
| 2000 | Rommel Adducul | Manila | SSC-R |
| 2001 | Eddie Laure | LBC-Batangas | Adamson |

## MBA Champions

Teams in bold won the MBA National Championship.
| Season | Northern Conference | Southern Conference | Series |
| 1998 | Pampanga Dragons | Negros Slashers | 4-1 |
| 1999 | Manila Metrostars | Cebu Gems | 4-2 |
| 2000 | San Juan Knights | Negros Slashers | 4-2 |
| 2001 | LBC-Batangas Blades | Negros Slashers | 3-1 |
| 2002 | LBC-Batangas Blades | RCPI-Negros Slashers | 0-3 |
* October 31, 1998: Pampanga Dragons emerge as the first MBA champions, winning against Negros Slashers in five games. The Dragons clinch the national championship following an 89–85 victory in Game Five at the San Fernando Sports Complex.
* December 8, 1999: Manila Metrostars rout the Cebu Gems, 101–83 in Game Six, before a hometown crowd at the Mail & More Sports Complex in San Andres and crowned themselves the 1999 MBA national champions.
* November 25, 2000: San Juan Knights defeated Negros Slashers, 104–91 in Game Six, at the packed San Juan Gym for their first MBA national title since becoming one of the three new teams last season.
* December 19, 2001: LBC-Batangas Blades captured their first MBA crown in the second phase of the 2001 season, beating hard-luck Negros Slashers, 94–75 in Game Four, for a 3–1 series victory.
* June 1, 2002: After four runner-up finishes, RCPI-Negros finally win their first MBA title. The Slashers completed a three-game sweep off LBC-Batangas Blades. Winning Slashers coach Jojo Villapando now joined the elite list of MBA champion coaches.

## Commissioners

* Ramon Fernandez (1998–1999)
* Gregorio "Ogie" Narvasa II (2000–2001)
* Severino "Butch" Antonio (2001)
* Joaquin "Chito" Loyzaga (2002)

## Rivalries

* Manila-Cebu - Seen as a rivalry of two basketball hotbeds in the Philippines. Both teams played the first MBA game on March 7, 1998, in Pangasinan with Metrostars defeating the Gems. Manila and Cebu also entangled in a regular season match in August 1999 which saw Manila escape with a nail-biting win that preserved their record 23-game winning streak. Manila later defeated Cebu in the 1999 MBA National Finals. Cebu bounced back, defeating Manila to win the 2000 MBA Interconference tournament.
* Negros-Cebu - A rivalry of both teams from the Visayas region, and also in the MBA Visayas Division. The Slashers defeated the Gems 4–3 in the 1998 MBA Southern Conference Finals, after Negros trailed 1–3 in the series. The Gems bounced back in the 1999 Southern Conference semis by defeating the Slashers. A game during the series was halted and restarted a week later, due to physical play and fan behavior. Negros bounced back in 2000, defeating Cebu in the Southern finals.
* Davao-Cebu - A Southern Conference rivalry, had a game in 1998 halted due to physical play while fans pelted the court with debris.
* Pasig-San Juan - A Northern Conference rivalry between both nearby Metro Manila cities. Probably the most intense rivalry in MBA history, with games being halted with fights from both players on the court and rival fans in attendance. Pasig-Rizal defeated San Juan to win the 1999 MBA Northern Conference Two title and also eliminated the Knights in the 1999 Northern Conference semifinals.

## Trivia

* The Manila Metrostars set a league record in 1999 by winning 22 consecutive games only to be halted by the Negros Slashers during the elimination round, en route to a 26–4 record and the MBA National Championship. The record was also seen by many as the most in Philippine professional basketball history, breaking the PBA's Crispa Redmanizers' record of 21 consecutive victories in 1983.
* Felix Belano of the Davao Eagles was the only player to record a quadruple-double in MBA history (if a player records a double-figure numbers in four categories such as points, rebounds, assists, blocks or steals) during a game against the Nueva Ecija Patriots in 1999. Belano later had a stint with the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals of the PBA.
* Peter Martin made the first shot in the history of the MBA when his Manila Metrostars they faced the Cebu Gems in the opening of the league in 1998.
* The SocSarGen Marlins became the first team to register a win in the first double-header of the league in 1998. Max Delantes led the way for the Marlins.
* Stephen Padilla holds the record for most 3-point shots made with 10 as he scores 40 points with a 10/10 from the 3-point arc in 2001.
* John Ferriols was the first MVP of the tournament while Alex Compton was the first American player to be named MVP of the MBA in 1999.
* In 1999, the Manila Metrostars became the first MBA team to banner a team at the 1999 Southeast Asian Games in Brunei. They made it before winning the national championship over the Cebu Gems. Coach Louie Alas led the RP Team (now Team Gilas Pilipinas) to win the Gold Medal by beating Thailand. The majority of the line-up were the players from the Metrostars led by Adducul and Camaso and recruited some players from other teams.
* The Pasig Pirates and San Juan Knights were revived as expansion teams of the Manny Pacquiao-founded Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) in 2018. A year later in 2019, the SocSarGen Marlins were rechristened as the Soccsksargen Marlins, later renamed as the Sarangani Marlins.

## MBA on ABS-CBN

The MBA on ABS-CBN was a branding for presentation of the Metropolitan Basketball Association games by the ABS-CBN Sports. The MBA on ABS-CBN premiered on March 7, 1998, when the league inaugurated its first season, and ended on December 19, 2001. After that, the NBN officially take over the coverage in 2002.

### Commentators
#### Play-by-play

* Mico Halili
* Sev Sarmenta
* Bill Velasco
* Bob Novales

#### Color

* Butch Maniego
* Freddie Webb
* Danny Francisco
* Chot Reyes
* Edwin Khu
* Randy Sacdalan
* Mark Molina

#### Courtside reporters

* Bobby Yan
* Alex Santos
* Ira Panganiban
* Pia Gonzales
* Joseph Barrios
* Lexi Schulze
* Trisha Heslet
* JC Gonzales
* Dyan Castillejo
* Ria Tanjuatco-Trillo
* TJ Manotoc (2000)