The 1979 PBA season was the fifth season of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA).

Season highlights

*After a two-year absence of playing against each other in the championship between the league's most noted rivalry, Crispa and Toyota played once again in the finals during the All-Filipino Conference. Crispa prevailed in five games, winning the deciding game, 118–111 on July 7. *On September 4, the visiting

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

, which lost to Seattle SuperSonics in the 1979 NBA Finals, played against a PBA All-Star Selection at the Araneta Coliseum in an exhibition game attended by Philippines First Lady

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand ...

, the Bullets with the line-up of hall of famers

Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and ...

Wes Unseld Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. (March 14, 1946June 2, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld ...

and among others, Greg Ballard, Dave Corzine and coach by Dick Motta, won the match, 133–123. The PBA selection, made up of one local player from each of the nine PBA teams that year, was coached by Baby Dalupan and reinforced by five imports. *Royal Tru-Orange won their first PBA title in the Open Conference by defeating Toyota Tamaraws, 102–101 in Game 4 for a 3–1 series win. Imports Otto Moore and Larry Pounds led the Orangemen as they became only the fourth team to win a championship in the 1970s apart from Toyota, Crispa and U/tex. *Three different teams emerged champions in the league's fifth season as the Toyota Tamaraws avoided a third runner-up finish by winning the invitational championship against rival Crispa Walk Tall Jeans.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Champions

* All Filipino Conference:

Crispa Redmanizers The Crispa Redmanizers were a multi-titled Filipino basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 to 1984. It was one of the nine founding teams of the PBA, winning a total of thirteen PBA championships, ...

* Open Conference: Royal Tru-Orange * Invitational championship:

Toyota Tamaraws is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

* Team with best win–loss percentage:

(44–18, .710) * Best Team of the Year:

(3rd)

Individual awards

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

Atoy Co Fortunato "Atoy" Gan Co Jr. (born October 15, 1951) is a Filipino former basketball player and coach who played 13 seasons in the Philippine Basketball Association, mostly with Crispa Redmanizers. Nicknamed "The Fortune Cookie" (a pun on his na ...

(Crispa) * Rookie of the Year: Arnie Tuadles (Toyota) * Mythical Five: **

Robert Jaworski Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr. (; born March 8, 1946), also known by his nicknames Sonny, Big J, and Jawo (), is a Filipino former professional basketball player, head coach and politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines fro ...

(Toyota) **

(Crispa) **

Ramon Fernandez Ramon Sadaya Fernandez (; born October 3, 1953) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and current commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission. Fernandez won four PBA Most Valuable Player awards and a record of 19 PBA ti ...

(Toyota) ** Arnie Tuadles (Toyota) **

Philip Cezar Philip Dudley Cezar (born December 1, 1952) is a Filipino former basketball coach, player and politician. Known by the monikers "Mr. Stretch", "''Tapal'' King" and "The Scholar", he was part of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers ballclub of the Phi ...

(Crispa)

Board of governors

* Leopoldo Prieto (Commissioner) * Domingo Itchon (President, Elizalde and Co., Inc.) * Dante Silverio (Vice-President,

Delta Motor Corporation Delta Motor Corporation was a South African car manufacturer, which was created through a management buy-out after General Motors (GM) divested from South Africa in 1986. It was headed by former GM executive, Bob Price, who had returned to South ...

) * Walter Euyang (Treasurer, Universal Textile Mills) * Jose Castro, Jr. (Executive Secretary) * Pablo Carlos (

) * Valeriano "Danny" Floro (P. Floro and Sons) * Emerson Coseteng (Mariwasa Group) * Leonardo "Skip" Guinto (

San Miguel Corporation San Miguel Corporation (), abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate with headquarters in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally fo ...

) * Porfirio Zablan ( CFC Corporation) * Carlos Palanca III ( La Tondeña, Inc.)

Cumulative standings

References

PBA {{Philippines-sport-stub