# San Juan Knights

The San Juan Knights (SJK, currently competing as the San Juan Kings) are a Filipino professional basketball team based in San Juan. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. The team plays its home games at Filoil EcoOil Centre.
The team's first incarnation was established in 1999 as a member of the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) and played there until 2001. In 2018, the Knights were revived as they joined the MPBL for the 2018–19 season. The team's second incarnation has taken part in other leagues, including FilBasket, Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3, and Pilipinas Super League (PSL), the latter of which they compete under the name San Juan Kings. In 2023, their volleyball counterpart, the San Juan Lady Knights became one of the eight charter teams of the Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association (MPVA).
The San Juan-based franchise is one of the most successful region basketball teams in the country. Across both incarnations, the Knights have clinched two championships: one in the MBA (2000) and one in the MPBL (2019). The Knights also made the MPBL's division finals five times in a row from 2019 to 2024, and the MPBL finals in back-to-back seasons (2019 and 2021).
The Knights are one of four teams based in the Eastern Manila District of Metro Manila. The team is also backed by the sports program Go For Gold Philippines, hence the team is also known as San Juan Knights–Go For Gold (SJK–G4G).

## History
### First incarnation (1999–2001)

The San Juan Knights were founded in 1999 by then-mayor and current senator Jinggoy Estrada and businessman Sandy Javier. The team entered the Metropolitan Basketball Association as an expansion team for the league's 1999 season alongside the Surigao Miners and Nueva Ecija Patriots.
During the pre-season, the team acquired 6'9" Bonel Balingit from the Philippine Basketball Association to a three-year, P16 million contract. Joining Balangit are Gherome Ejercito from the Pampanga Dragons, a cousin of Estrada, 1998 NCAA Most Valuable Player Christian Calaguio, and Chito Victolero.
During the playoffs of the 2000 season, San Juan first swept the Laguna Lakers, 2–0, in the Northern Conference Semifinals and went past the Manila Metrostars, 3–1, in the Northern Conference Finals, bringing the Knights to the 2000 MBA National Championship. Game 5 of the championship series against the Negros Slashers had a debris-throwing incident at the La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, as the Knights were way ahead, 87–65, with 11:38 left in the fourth quarter when play was stopped. The Negros Slashers conceded game 5, giving the San Juan Knights a 3–2 heading into game 6. San Juan would go on to win their first of back-to-back MBA championships.
| Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Wins |
| San Juan | 76 | 88 | 84 | 85 | W | 104 | 4 |
| Negros | 75 | 77 | 90 | 89 | L | 91 | 2 |

### Second incarnation (2018–present)
#### 2018–2020: The Ayonayon and Wilson era

In April 2018, San Juan Knights were revived as an expansion team in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. The return of the Knights brought in names such as Mark Cardona and John Wilson. The team finished its inaugural season with a 20–5 record and clinched the third seed in the playoffs. In the playoffs, San Juan swept both Navotas and Quezon City, and won 2–1 against Manila to advance to the 2019 MPBL finals against the Davao Occidental Tigers. The series went all the way to a game 5 as San Juan won its first MPBL championship and the third overall in franchise history. Their winning traditions continued into the 2019–20 season, after facing only four losses throughout the whole season, San Juan managed to finish the season as the North Division's first seed. With a 26–4 record and a .867 win percentage, they also tied for best record that season alongside the Davao Occidental Tigers. As the playoffs began, the team swept through Pasay and Pampanga before facing the Makati Super Crunch in the North Division Finals. The series was tied before the season's suspension but San Juan were able to win deciding game 3 against a depleted Super Crunch squad to make back-to-back National Finals appearances for a chance to repeat against the Davao Occicdental Tigers. This time around, San Juan failed to defend their title as Davao Occidental won 3–1.

#### 2022–present: The Orlan Wamar era

After the conclusion of the 2022 MPBL season, San Juan made their debut in the Pilipinas Super League, under the name San Juan Kings. In the 2022–23 DUMPER Cup, the team went undefeated in the regular season, winning all 15 games. After beating Manila in the Quarterfinals, the Kings met the Baltazar-led Pampanga G Lanterns in the Semifinals. Unfortunately, San Juan would lose to the G Lanterns in two games.

## Rivalries
### Davao Occidental Tigers

The rivalry between San Juan and the Davao Occidental Tigers is most prominent in the MPBL when both teams played in the National Finals in back-to-back seasons (2019 and 2021). Even though Davao Occidental has since departed the MPBL, both teams would still clash with one another whenever they compete in the same league. As of February 2024, the San Juan franchise has met the Davao Occidental Tigers a total of fifteen times across all leagues.

### Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards

San Juan's rivalry against the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards began in FilBasket when both teams clashed in the finals of the 2022 Summer Championship. The rivalry grew more fierce in the MPBL as both teams fought for North Division contention, with both teams meeting in the playoffs in 2022 and 2023. As of March 2024, across all leagues, both teams have met each other thirteen times.

### Pampanga Giant Lanterns

In the mid-2020s, both San Juan and the Pampanga Giant Lanterns competed for championship contention when they compete in the same league. Since 2020, both teams met in the playoffs a total of four times across the MPBL and PSL, three of them occurred at either the MPBL division finals or PSL semifinals.

## Home arenas

San Juan plays their home games at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in the MPBL and PSL. During their time in the MBA, they have played in the PhilSports Arena from 1999 to early 2000 and the San Juan Gym in 2000.

## Current roster
### Head coaches

San Juan Knights head coaches :
| # | Name | Start | End | Achievements |
| 1 | Philip Cezar | 1999 | 2001 | MBA champion (2000) |
| 2 | Allan Pangarungan | 2001 | 2001 | — |
| 3 | Randy Alcantara | 2018 | 2023 | 1x MPBL Coach of the Year (2019) |
| 4 | Jinggoy Estrada | 2023 | 2024 | — |

## Season-by-season records

* League champions
* Division champions
* Qualified for playoffs
* Best regular season record

### Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

| Season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Division | Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results |
| San Juan Knights ||||||||||
| 2018–19 Datu Cup | North | 3rd | 25 | 20 | 5 | .800 | 3 | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals National finals | won vs. Navotas, 2–0 won vs. Quezon City, 2–0 won vs. Manila, 2–1 won vs. Davao Occidental, 3–2 |
| 2019–20 Lakan Season | North | 1st | 30 | 26 | 4 | .867 | — | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals National finals | won vs. Pasay, 2–0 won vs. Pampanga, 2–0 won vs. Makati, 2–1 lost vs Davao Occidental, 1–3 |
| 2022 | North | 3rd | 21 | 14 | 7 | .667 | 7 | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals | won vs. Valenzuela, 2–0 won vs. Pasig City, 2–0 lost vs. Nueva Ecija, 1–2 |
| 2023 | North | 6th | 28 | 19 | 9 | .679 | 7 | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals | won vs. Makati, 2–0 won vs. Nueva Ecija, 2–0 lost vs. Pampanga, 0–2 |
| 2024 | North | 1st | 28 | 26 | 2 | .929 | – | Division quarterfinals Division semifinals Division finals | won vs. Rizal, 2–0 won vs. Caloocan, 2–0 lost vs. Pampanga, 0–2 |
| 2025 | TBA | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined |
| All-time regular season record | All-time regular season record | All-time regular season record | 132 | 105 | 27 | .795 | | 5 playoff appearances | 5 playoff appearances |
| All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | 42 | 29 | 13 | .690 | | 2 finals appearances | 2 finals appearances |
| All-time league record | All-time league record | All-time league record | 174 | 134 | 40 | .770 | | 1 championship | 1 championship |

### FilBasket

| Tournament | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Tournament | Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results |
| San Juan Knights |||||||||
| Subic 2021 | 3rd | 10 | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals | won vs. Medical Depot, 88–73 won vs. Davao Occidental, 85–84 lost vs. AICC Manila, 1–2 (series) |
| Summer 2022 | 5th | 11 | 6 | 5 | .545 | 5 | Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals | won vs. Pasig, 93–91 won vs. Tanduay, 2–0 (series) lost vs. Nueva Ecija, 1–2 (series) |
| All-time elimination round record | All-time elimination round record | 21 | 13 | 8 | .619 | | 2 playoff appearances |
| All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | | 2 finals appearances |
| All-time league record | All-time league record | 32 | 20 | 12 | .625 | | 0 championships |

### Pilipinas Super League

| Tournament | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Elimination round | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Tournament | Finish | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Stage | Results |
| San Juan Kings |||||||||
| 2022–23 DUMPER Cup | 1st | 15 | 15 | 0 | 1.000 | — | Quarterfinals Semifinals | won vs. Manila, 1–0 lost vs. Pampanga G Lanterns, 0–2 |
| 2023–24 President's Cup | 2nd | 18 | 16 | 2 | .889 | 1 | First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Battle for third | won vs. Camarines Norte, 1–0 won vs. SGA–CSB, 1–0 lost vs. Nueva Ecija, 0–2 won vs. Biñan, 1–0 |
| 2024–25 President's Cup | 3rd | 10 | 8 | 2 | .800 | 1 | Quarterfinals 1 Quarterfinals 2 Semifinals Finals | won vs. Lipa Batangas, 1–0 won vs. Malabon, 1–0 won vs. General Santos, 2–0 lost vs. Caloocan, 1–2 |
| All-time elimination round record | All-time elimination round record | 43 | 39 | 4 | .907 | | 3 playoff appearances |
| All-time playoff record | All-time playoff record | 15 | 9 | 6 | .600 | | 1 finals appearance |
| All-time league record | All-time league record | 58 | 48 | 10 | .828 | | 0 championships |