The 1998 PBA season was the 24th 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).

Board of governors

Executive committee

* Emilio P. Bernardino, Jr. (Commissioner) * Bernabe L. Navarro, Jr. (Chairman, representing Ginebra San Miguel) * Reynaldo G. Gamboa (Vice-Chairman, representing Formula Shell Zoommasters) * Manuel M. Encarnado (Treasurer, representing Sta. Lucia Realtors)

Teams

Season highlights

*The PBA is in their toughest challenge with the formation of a new league called

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 Asso ...

, backed by the giant network ABS-CBN, and is perceived to be a threat to the 24-year existence of the PBA. *The Alaska Milkmen won two titles during the year while Formula Shell ended a six-year title-drought by winning the final conference of the season. *For the third time in every four years, an All-pro squad to be known as Philippine Centennial Team will be given a task to win the basketball gold in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

, slated in December in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. Alaska coach

Tim Cone Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who leads Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Philippine men's national team. He is the most accomplished coa ...

was chosen to handle to national team and pick the pro cagers to comprise the 12-man lineup. The Centennial team participated in the Jones Cup basketball tournament in Taipei and won their third championship. *This is the only season that features four conferences with the addition of the

Centennial Cup The Centennial Cup is an annual ice hockey tournament organized by Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), which determines the national champion of Junior ice hockey#Junior A, junior A ice hockey. It consists of a ten-team ...

in celebration of the centennial anniversary of Philippine independence. The Philippine Centennial Team played as guest team in preparation for the

1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games () and the XIII Asiad,, or simply Bangkok 1998 (), were an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and di ...

. The tournament was won by the Mobiline Phone Pals. *The two-import format was revived during the Centennial Cup and the Governor's Cup.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Champions

* All-Filipino Cup:

Alaska Milkmen The Alaska Aces were a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association since 1986 under the ownership of Alaska Milk Corporation (AMC) and the owner of 14 PBA championships, tied with the Magnolia Hotshots for the third ...

* Commissioner's Cup:

: Mobiline Phone Pals * Governor's Cup:

Formula Shell Zoom Masters In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

* Team with best win–loss percentage:

(41–25, .621) * Best Team of the Year:

(3rd)

All-Filipino Cup

Elimination round

Semifinal round

Third-place playoff

Finals

*Finals MVP:

Kenneth Duremdes Kenneth Celera Duremdes (born January 31, 1974) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who currently serves as the commissioner of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). Nicknamed as "Captain Marbel", Duremdes played i ...

(

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

) *Best Player of the Conference: Nelson Asaytono ( San Miguel)

Commissioner's Cup

Elimination round

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

*Team has twice-to-beat advantage. Team 1 only has to win once, while Team 2 has to win twice.

Semifinals

Third place playoff

Finals

*Finals MVP:

(

) *Best Player of the Conference:

(

) *Best Import of the Conference: Devin Davis (

)

Centennial Cup

Elimination round

Playoffs

Governors' Cup

Elimination round

Semifinal round

Third-place playoffs

Finals

*Finals MVP:

Benjie Paras Venancio Johnson Paras Jr. (born October 2, 1968), better known as Benjie Paras, is a Filipino actor, comedian, and retired professional basketball player who played for the Shell Turbo Chargers and San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basket ...

(

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

) *Best Player of the Conference:

Jerry Codiñera Jerry Herman Codiñera (born November 14, 1966) is a Filipino coach and retired professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. He is nicknamed the "Defense Minister" for his prowess at the defensive end. He is the curre ...

( Purefoods) *Best Import of the Conference: Silas Mills ( Mobiline)

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 ...

(Alaska) * Rookie of the Year:

Danny Ildefonso Danilo Cabonitalla Ildefonso (born December 9, 1976) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He currently serves as an assistant coach for both the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the NU Bulld ...

(San Miguel) * Sportsmanship Award: Freddie Abuda (San Miguel) * Most Improved Player:

Patrick Fran Patrick Roy Fran (born 1973) is a former Filipino basketball player and coach. Career Playing A homegrown from Ormoc, Fran played for UST Growling Tigers under Aric del Rosario, and won a championship In sport, a championship is a com ...

(Mobiline) * Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Jackson (Formula Shell) * Mythical Five **

Johnny Abarrientos Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, ...

(Alaska) **

Alvin Patrimonio Alvin Dale Vergara Patrimonio (born November 17, 1966) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player from the Philippine Basketball Association and is the current team manager for the Magnolia Hotshots. Patrimonio holds several PBA r ...

(Purefoods) **

Jojo Lastimosa Isabelo "Jojo" Lastimosa Jr. (born March 10, 1964) is a Filipino professional basketball coach and former player. He is the team manager for the TNT Tropang 5G of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played in the PBA for the Purefo ...

(Alaska) **

(Alaska) * Mythical Second Team ** Rodericko "Olsen" Racela (San Miguel) ** Mike Mustre (San Miguel) **

(San Miguel) ** Nelson Asaytono (San Miguel) **

Victor Pablo Victor Pablo (born August 8, 1970) is a retired Filipino professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. Playing career A former king Tamaraw at Far Eastern University, Pablo was the second overall pick in the 1993 PBA ...

(Formula Shell) * All Defensive Team ** Chris Jackson (Formula Shell) ** Freddie Abuda (San Miguel) **

(Purefoods) **

Glenn Capacio Glenn Capacio (born May 15, 1964, in Palo, Leyte) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the former head coach of PBA team GlobalPort Batang Pier and was also the former head coac ...

(Mobiline) **

(Mobiline)

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

* Coach of the Year:

Perry Ronquillo Perry Ronquillo (born 1965) is a Filipino former basketball coach. He is now a school teacher in the United States. Playing career He played for De La Salle Green Archers under head coach Derrick Pumaren, and won 2 UAAP championships togeth ...

(Formula Shell) * Mr. Quality Minutes: Rodney Santos (Alaska) * Executive of the Year:

Wilfred Uytengsu Wilfred Steven "Fred" B. Uytengsu Jr. is a Filipino businessman. As of August 2017, ''Forbes'' lists him as the 35th richest in the Philippines with a net worth of $240 million. Personal life Uytengsu was born in November 11, 1961 in Cebu City ...

(Alaska) * Comeback Player of the Year:

(Mobiline) * Referee of the Year: Franco Ilagan

Board of Governors

* Emilio Bernardino (Commissioner) * Ruben Cleofe (Secretary) * Bernabe Navarro (Chairman, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc) * Reynaldo Gamboa (Vice-Chairman, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.) * Manuel Encarnado (Treasurer, Sta. Lucia Realty and Development, Inc) * Wilfred Steven Uytengsu (Alaska Milk Corp.) * Luis Lorenzo, Jr (Lapanday Holdings Corp.) * Nazario Avendaño (San Miguel Corp.) * Joaquin Trillo (Alaska Milk Corp.) * Teodoro Dimayuga (Purefoods Corp.) * Elmer Yanga (Republic Flour Mills Corp.) * Roberto Eduardo (La Tondeña Distillers, Inc) * Eliezer Capacio (Purefoods Corp.) * Ignatius Yenko (Lapanday Holdings Corp.)

Cumulative standings

References

{{PBA seasons PBA