The 2021 PBA season was the 46th 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 ...

. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the season's start, originally scheduled on April 11, 2021, has been delayed until July 16, 2021. The league's Board of Governors announced that the season had two conferences: the Philippine Cup and the Governors' Cup. The first activity of the season was the PBA season 46 draft held on March 14, 2021.

Executive board

* Commissioner:

Willie Marcial Wilfrido "Willie" O. Marcial (born October 12, 1961) is a Filipino sports executive who serves as the tenth commissioner of the Philippine Basketball Association. He became the league's officer-in-charge after Chito Narvasa resigned on December ...

* Chairman:

Ricky Vargas Victorico "Ricky" P. Vargas (born February 24, 1952) is a Filipino executive who served as the 10th President of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) from March 5, 2018, after winning over Jose Cojuangco Jr. in a court-ordered elections held o ...

(Representing

TNT Tropang Giga The TNT Tropang 5G is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 1990. The fra ...

) * Vice-Chairman: Demosthenes Rosales (Representing

Terrafirma Dyip The Terrafirma Dyip is a professional basketball team playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team is owned by Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation and originally played under its affiliate company Columbian Autocar Cor ...

) * Treasurer: Richard Bachmann (Representing Alaska Aces)

Teams

Player quotas

Filipino-foreigners

The PBA allows for each team to have up to five players classified as "Filipino-foreigners" in their roster. Filipino-foreigners are natural-born Filipinos who are born outside the Philippines. Natural-born Filipinos born inside the Philippines are not classified as such, and a team can as many of them as roster size permits.

Imports

Naturalized Filipinos and foreigners can play as imports. They can only play in import-laced conferences, and usually a team is mandated to have at least one for the duration of the tournament. A list of imports was provided on those conferences' articles.

Arenas

Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila The COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus reached Metro Manila on January 30, 2020, when the first cas ...

, the season started to be played at

Ynares Sports Arena The Ynares Sports Arena is an indoor arena located in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines. The stadium has hosted the basketball games of the Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine Basketball League, and Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball Le ...

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig (), is a highly-urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the eastern border of Metro Mani ...

, in a closed-circuit format, with no spectators allowed for the meantime. On August 6,

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

(of which Pasig is included) was placed under enhanced community quarantine, the highest level of quarantine; the league originally planned to continue at

Lipa Lipa or LIPA (Cyrillic: Липа) may refer to: Acronym *Liquid Isopropyl alcohol * League for Independent Political Action, a former American progressive political organization *Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, a performing arts school i ...

Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( ), is a first class province of the Philippines located in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Calabarzon region. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,908,494 people, making ...

. The

Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is an inactive task force organized by the executive of the government of the Philippines to respond to affairs concerning emerging infectious diseases in ...

(IATF-EID) allowed the PBA to resume in places which were under either modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) or regular general community quarantine (GCQ); with the placement of Batangas under GCQ with heightened restrictions, this removed it from the places the league can play at. The PBA settled in their choice to play in

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

for the meantime, as they don't see the quarantine classification in Metro Manila from going to regular GCQ. The PBA then got permission to play in the

Don Honorio Ventura State University Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) is a state university in Bacolor, Pampanga, Philippines. It has six satellite campuses in Apalit, Candaba, Porac, Mexico, Santo Tomas and Lubao in the province of Pampanga. It is considered as the o ...

gym in

Bacolor Bacolor, officially the Municipality of Bacolor (; ), is a municipality in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 48,066 people. Bacolor is the birthplace of Father Anselmo Jorge de Fajardo ...

. For the first two weeks of the 2021 PBA Governors' Cup, the league returned to the Ynares Sports Arena.

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

then gave the permission for sports events to be held there with spectators; the PBA was expected to play at the

Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Quezon City#Cubao, Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. ...

for the rest of the year starting December 15. At the start of 2022, the PBA was also expected to return at the

Mall of Asia Arena The SM Mall of Asia Arena, also known as the Mall of Asia Arena or the MoA Arena, is an indoor arena within the SM Mall of Asia complex, in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. It has a seating capacity of 15,000 for sporting events and ...

. However, with the rise of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, the IATF-EID placed Metro Manila under alert level 3, causing the league to postpone the games for the week starting January 3. When the Governors' Cup resumed on February 11, the league announced that the games would be played at the

Ynares Center The Ynares Center, also known as Ynares Center Antipolo, is an indoor arena located along the Circumferential Road in Antipolo, Rizal, Philippines. The facility, which has a seating capacity of 7,400, is managed by the Provincial Government of ...

in Antipolo for the duration of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification round to be played from February 24 to 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The league began playing at

on March 23 during the Governors' Cup semifinals.

Transactions

Retirement

* On January 24,

Cyrus Baguio Cyrus Marata Baguio (born August 19, 1980) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Valenzuela Classic of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He also formerly played in the Philippine Basketball Associ ...

announced his retirement. Baguio played for 6 franchises in his 17 seasons in the association. * On February 1,

Harvey Carey Harvey Nicklos Miguel Carey (born March 18, 1979) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He spent his entire career with the TNT Tropang Giga in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). High school career Carey didn ...

announced his retirement. Carey played for

for 17 seasons. * On March 21,

JC Intal John Christopher Antonio "JC" Intal (; born November 18, 1983) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He played for four teams during his career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is married to television host and ...

announced his retirement. Intal played for 4 franchises in his 13 seasons in the association. * On May 15,

Jay-R Reyes Jay-R C. Reyes (born July 16, 1984) is a Filipino former professional basketball player who last played for the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters of the Philippine Basketball Association. Professional career Reyes was the youngest player in the 200 ...

announced his retirement. Reyes played for 8 franchises in his 14 seasons in the association. * On May 25,

Marc Pingris Jean Marc Prado Pingris Jr. (born October 16, 1981) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Biñan Tatak Gel of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the Pilipinas Super League (PSL). Regarded as an all-time grea ...

announced his retirement. Pingris played for 3 franchises in his 15 seasons in the association. * On December 29,

Garvo Lanete Garvo A. Lanete (born February 13, 1989) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He previously played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for three teams. He also won four championships in the NCAA, multiple PBA D-Leagu ...

announced his retirement. Lanete played for 3 franchises in his 6 seasons in the association.

Coaching changes

Notable events

Pre-season

*The PBA Board of Governors approved a two-conference format this season. One All-Filipino tournament (Philippine Cup) to be held for four months and one import-laced tournament (Governors' Cup) to be held for six months. *On March 12,

TNT KaTropa The TNT Tropang 5G is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 1990. The fran ...

was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term as the Chairman of the PBA Board of Governors. Bobby Rosales of

was re-elected as Vice Chairman, while Richard "Dickie" Bachmann of the Alaska Aces was elected as treasurer. Bachmann was also appointed as the chairman of the PBA 3×3 tournament. Vargas became the longest-serving head of the PBA Board of Governors since the presidency of Ginebra San Miguel's Carlos "Honeyboy" Palanca III (1983 to 1986) and the chairmanship of Formula Shell's Reynaldo Marquez (1987 to 1990). *July 9: The

(IATF-EID) have approved the proposal from the league to open its 46th season on July 16. The announcement came from the monthly

Games and Amusements Board The Games and Amusements Board (GAB; ) is the government-run regulatory body of professional sports in the Philippines. History The Games and Amusements Board initially started its operation in 1951 with the issuance of Executive Order No. 392 ...

press conference.

Philippine Cup

*July 18:

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distiller ...

started wearing their "Bagong Tapang" jerseys. The jerseys replace their light uniforms. The said jerseys were launched in April and were made available to fans beginning on May 1. *July 21: Four games involving the

and the

were postponed due to TNT players' inconclusive COVID-19 test results. *August 3: The league suspended their games beginning August 4 after the government declared that Metro Manila was under Enhanced Community Quarantine from August 6 to 20. The league have appealed to the

(IATF-EID) if they can continue their tournament in Batangas, which was under a more relaxed quarantine restrictions. *August 23: The league announced that they got the approval of Pampanga governor Dennis Pineda to resume their games at the

in Bacolor starting September 1.

Midseason break

*The league announced that the inaugural 3x3 season would start on November 20. *November 9: The PBA board of governors have approved to revise the league's policy for Fil-foreigner to be eligible for the PBA draft. Fil-foreigners are only required to submit a Philippine passport upon application to the draft. The board also increased the number of Fil-foreigner players per team from five to seven.

Governors' Cup

PBA 2021 - Araneta Coliseum - Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs NorthPort Batang Pier

*December 10: The

government approved the PBA's request to play their games with spectators. The games were played at the

Smart Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed "the Big Dome" ...

with half capacity allowed starting December 15. *December 25: The Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots retired the

jersey number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...

s of PJ Simon (#8) and

(#15), during halftime of their game against

. *January 3, 2022: The league postpones its scheduled games for the first week of January after Metro Manila was put on Alert Level 3 due to the rising COVID-19 cases. *January 6: The league postpones the Governors' Cup indefinitely. Team scrimmages are also suspended. *January 30: The league announced that the Governors' Cup would resume on February 11. Subsequently, the league announced on February 12 that spectators were allowed to watch the games inside the playing venues beginning February 16. *February 16: Alaska Aces team owner

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 ...

announced that the franchise was leaving the PBA at the end of the 2021 season. *February 18: The PBA announced that the Hong Kong-based Bay Area Chun Yu Phoenixes from EASL would enter the league as a guest team during the Governors' Cup of season 47. Their participation was formally announced on March 21. It was also announced that the team would compete under the name Bay Area Dragons, so as not to confuse their nickname with current PBA team Phoenix Super LPG. *February 28: After the IATF-EID announced that Metro Manila would be under Alert Level 1 from March 1 to 15, the league announced that the Smart Araneta Coliseum would be back to full capacity starting on March 2. *March 6: The Alaska Aces retired the

Sonny Thoss Joachim Gunther "Sonny" Thoss (born December 7, 1981) is a German-Filipino former professional basketball player. He played his entire career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) with the Alaska Aces, where his jersey number is retire ...

(#7), during halftime of their game against Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots. *March 19: The Alaska Aces played its final PBA game after being eliminated by the

NLEX Road Warriors The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by Manila North Tollways Corporation, NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014 ...

in their do-or-die quarterfinal game, 96–80. At the end of the game, the league held a short tribute to the Alaska franchise then Commissioner Willie Marcial sounded the ceremonial "final buzzer" at center court. *March 23: The PBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Alaska franchise to Converge ICT Solutions Inc. Former PBA commissioner

Chito Salud Angelico Tiu Salud (born June 17, 1962), better known as Chito Salud, is a Filipino lawyer and sports executive who currently serves as team governor of the Converge Fiber Xers in PBA. He was the first president and CEO of the Philippine Basket ...

became its team governor. *April 20: A fire broke out at the construction area beside the

at around 11:00 am while the games of the 2021 PBA 3x3 second conference grand finals was underway. The 3x3 games were postponed and subsequently, Game 6 of the Governors' Cup finals between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco were rescheduled to April 22.

Opening ceremonies

The

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

for this season was held at the

on July 16, 2021. Due to COVID-19 related restrictions, the traditional parade of teams with muses was not done and a “simple” opening ceremonies were held instead. The first game of the Philippine Cup between the Alaska Aces and the

Blackwater Bossing The Blackwater Bossing is a professional basketball team owned by Ever Bilena, Inc. that is playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) beginning in the 2014–2015 season. The franchise started as one of the founding teams in the ...

was played after the opening ceremonies.

Philippine Cup

The Philippine Cup started on July 16, was suspended on August 3, restarted on September 1, and ended on October 29, 2021.

Elimination round

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

*Team has

twice-to-beat advantage There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

. Team 1 only has to win once, while Team 2 has to win twice.

Semifinals

Finals

* Finals MVP: Mikey Williams * Best Player of the Conference:

Calvin Abueva Calvin Abueva (born February 4, 1988) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the NorthPort Batang Pier of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was picked second overall by the Alaska Aces during the 2012 PBA Draft. He w ...

Governors' Cup

The Governors' Cup started on December 6, 2021, was suspended on January 5, 2022, restarted on February 11, and ended on April 22.

Elimination round

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

*Team has

. Team 1 only has to win once, while Team 2 has to win twice.

Semifinals

Finals

* Finals MVP: Scottie Thompson * Best Player of the Conference: Scottie Thompson *Bobby Parks Best Import of the Conference:

Justin Brownlee Justin Donta Brownlee (born April 23, 1988) is an American naturalized Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball for ...

Awards

Leo Awards

* Most Valuable Player: Scottie Thompson ( Barangay Ginebra) * Rookie of the Year: Mikey Williams (

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

) * Most Improved Player: Juami Tiongson ( Terrafirma) * First Mythical Team: ** Mikey Williams (

) ** Scottie Thompson ( Barangay Ginebra) **

June Mar Fajardo June Mar Sotto Fajardo (; born November 17, 1989) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is also known by his nickname "The Kraken" for his extraordinary size a ...

(

San Miguel San Miguel, Spanish for Saint Michael, may refer to: Places Argentina *San Miguel Partido *San Miguel, Buenos Aires * San Miguel, Catamarca * San Miguel, Corrientes * San Miguel, La Rioja *San Miguel Arcángel, a Volga German colony in Adolfo Al ...

) **

(

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

) **

Arwind Santos Arwind Anaya Santos (; born June 10, 1981) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Basilan Viva Portmasters of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). Amateur career High school career Born in Angeles City, Philippine ...

( NorthPort) * Second Mythical Team: ** Robert Bolick ( NorthPort) ** CJ Perez (

) **

Ian Sangalang Ian Paul Mendoza Sangalang (born December 20, 1991) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted 2nd overall by the San Mig Super Coffee ...

(

) **

Christian Standhardinger Christian Karl Hermoso Standhardinger (born July 4, 1989) is a Filipino-German professional basketball player who last played for the Terrafirma Dyip of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He has won four List of Philippine Basketball ...

( Barangay Ginebra) **

Matthew Wright Matt or Matthew Wright may refer to: Sports * Matthew Wright (basketball) (born 1991), Filipino-Canadian basketball player * Matthew Wright (Australian footballer) (born 1989), Australian rules footballer * Matthew Wright (rugby league) (born 1991) ...

( Phoenix) * All-Defensive Team: **

Jio Jalalon Jiovani Nacawili Jalalon (born August 2, 1992) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the NorthPort Batang Pier of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Early life The third of the six children of Vicente Jalalon and Jocelyn N ...

(

) ** Chris Ross (

) **

Kelly Williams Kelly Williams (born February 7, 1982) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang 5G in the PBA. He played collegiate basketball at Oakland University, an NCAA Division I school in the United States, and he als ...

(

) **

Cliff Hodge Clifford Marion "Cliff" Hodge (born February 3, 1988) is a Filipino-American basketball player for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was selected 4th overall by the Meralco Bolts in the 2012 PBA draft. Semi-p ...

(

Meralco The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco (, , stylized in uppercase), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 3 ...

) **

( NorthPort) *

Samboy Lim Avelino "Samboy" Borromeo Lim Jr. (April 1, 1962 – December 23, 2023), nicknamed "The Skywalker", was a Filipino professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association and the national team in the 1980s and 1990s. As a hi ...

Sportsmanship Award:

Kevin Alas Kevin Louie Platon Alas (born November 13, 1991) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted second overall by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2 ...

(

NLEX The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and partially as R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a controlled-access highway that ...

)

PBA Press Corps Annual Awards

* Defensive Player of the Year:

( NorthPort) * Scoring Champion: Mikey Williams (

) *

Baby Dalupan Virgilio "Baby" Adam Dalupan (October 19, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Filipino basketball coach and player. Dubbed "The Maestro", Dalupan was best known for his lengthy coaching tenure with the Crispa Redmanizers and garnered a career tot ...

Coach of the Year:

Chot Reyes Vincent "Chot" P. Reyes (born August 1, 1964) is a Filipino basketball coach who is the head coach for the TNT Tropang 5G of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He also served as the head coach for the Philippines men's national basket ...

(

) * Mr. Quality Minutes: Allein Maliksi (

) * Danny Floro Executive of the Year:

Alfrancis Chua Alfrancis P. Chua (born January 17, 1966) is a Filipino sports executive and former basketball player and coach. He is currently the team manager of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the sports director of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), overseei ...

( Barangay Ginebra) * Order of Merit: ** Mikey Williams (

) ** Robert Bolick ( NorthPort) **

(

) **

( Phoenix) *All-Rookie Team ** Mikey Williams (

) ** Joshua Munzon ( Terrafrima) ** Leonard Santillan ( Rain or Shine) **

Calvin Oftana Calvin John Oftana (born January 3, 1996) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang 5G of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball for the San Beda Red Lions in the NCAA. He plays both the ...

(

) ** Jamie Malonzo ( NorthPort) * Game of the Season:

vs. NorthPort (December 12, 2021, Governors' Cup eliminations)

Cumulative standings

Elimination round

Playoffs

This includes

one-game playoff A one-game playoff, sometimes known as a pennant playoff, tiebreaker game or knockout game, is a tiebreaker in certain sports—usually but not always professional—to determine which of two teams, tied in the final standings, will qualify for a ...

s to determine the last playoff participant.

3x3

The 3x3 season started on November 20, 2021, and ended on July 3, 2022. The final legs of the third conference were held in concurrence with the Philippine Cup of the succeeding PBA season.

Notes

References

External links

PBA Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:PBA season Basketball events curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic