The Davao Occidental Tigers (also known as Davao Occidental Tigers – Cocolife due to sponsorship reasons) are a Filipino professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team based in the Davao metropolitan area and representing the province of

Davao Occidental Davao Occidental (; ), officially the Province of Davao Occidental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is the municipality of Malita, the most populous town in the province. To the east lies ...

. The team competes in the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...

as a member of the league's South Division. The team hasn't played any home games in Davao Occidental, but has played at a variety of venues across Metro Davao. The franchise was founded as an expansion team in the

(MPBL) for its 2018–19 season. Following their title in the 2021 MPBL finals, they moved to the

Pilipinas Super League The Pilipinas Super League (PSL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines. History The Pilipinas Super League (PSL) was founded in December 2021 by former officials the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, namely its former CEO Ro ...

(PSL) and became one of its founding members, before returning to the MPBL in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. The Tigers are one of four teams based in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

and the only one from the

Davao Region Davao Region, formerly called Southern Mindanao (; ), is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region XI. Situated at the southeastern portion of Mindanao, enclosing Davao Gulf, it comprises fiv ...

. They are also one of the more successful teams in Philippine regional basketball, with four finals appearances across both the MPBL and PSL. Of those four appearances, the Tigers won the 2021 MPBL finals and the 2022 Pilipinas Super League finals. The Tigers are one of five teams based in

and the lone team based in

History

2018–2021: First MPBL stint

Davao Occidental Tigers were established in 2018 as an expansion team in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. The Tigers were one of three teams to be based in

at the time, alongside

General Santos General Santos, officially the City of General Santos and abbreviated as GenSan, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Soccsksargen, Philippines. According to ...

and Zamboanga. The team led by Mark Yee saw immediate success, clinching the South Division's top seed with a 20–5 record. In the playoffs, Tigers swept

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

in the First Round, as well as Bacoor City in the division semifinals. In the South Division finals, they met the defending champion Batangas City Athletics. Although Batangas City forced a game 3 in overtime, the series was won by Davao Occidental and they faced San Juan Knights in the 2019 MPBL finals. The series went back-and-forth with both teams alternating wins, all coming down to a winner-take-all game in Davao City. Tigers led by three points heading into the last minute, however, Jhonard Clarito scored four consecutive points for San Juan as Davao Occidental lost the game and the series by a single point. Looking to come back after a stunning finals loss, Davao Occidental kept the same core heading into the 2019–20 season. Once again the team clinched the top seed in the South Division with a record of 26–4. This made Davao Occidental Tigers the first, and currently only, MPBL team to clinch the best division record in back-to-back seasons. To begin their 2020 playoff campaign, Tigers first beat Bicol in three games. They then met Zamboanga in the division semifinals, with the first game ending up as the lowest-scoring in the MPBL history. Davao Occidental then matched up with

Basilan Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan (; ; ; ), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. Basilan Island is the largest and northernmost of the major islands of the Sulu Archipelago ...

in the South Division finals. With the series tied 1–1, it saw an abrupt ending following the suspension of the playoffs due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines The COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , there have been reported cases, and reported deaths, the fift ...

. When the playoffs continued the following year, multiple Basilan members were tested positive for the virus, thus the series was awarded to Davao Occidental, creating a finals rematch against San Juan. Davao Occidental got their revenge and won the series in four games, thus winning their first league championship in franchise history.

2021–2024: FilBasket and Pilipinas Super League

Following their MPBL championship run, Davao Occidental Tigers took part in the inaugural tournament of FilBasket, the 2021 Subic Championship. The team clinched second place in the elimination round with a 7–3 record. After winning against Burlington EOG in the quarterfinals, Tigers experienced

déjà vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is the phenomenon of feeling like one has lived through the present situation in the past.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford University Press. pp. 167–1 ...

when they lost to San Juan in the semifinals by a single point. In 2021, the team became a founding member of the Pilipinas Super League, formally moving from the MPBL. Before their PSL debut, the Tigers secured to participation in the ASEAN Basketball League. Unfortunately, the 2022 season was cancelled due to the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia. Much like their MPBL debut, the lead the PSL with the best record in the 2022 Pearl of the Orient Cup, finishing 13–1. The team then swept both Basilan and Cagayan de Oro on their way to the first PSL championship. In the following 2022–23 DUMPER Cup, Davao Occidental remained among the best teams with the second-best record of the elimination round. The team did suffer losses against Boracay and the Pampanga Royce, before ultimately meeting the Pampanga G Lanterns led by

Justine Baltazar Justine Sagaya Baltazar (born February 19, 1997), nicknamed "Balti", is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is listed at 6 feet 9 ½ inches (2.07 m). Baltazar ...

. Davao Occidental ended up getting swept as the Lanterns won their first league championship.

2024: Second MPBL stint

On March 29, 2024, Davao Occidental announced that they would return to the MPBL for the 2024 season.

2025: New Era

On May 20, 2025, after a 3-4 start to the Davao Occidental 2025 season announced that they would be transitioning into a new era. Under new management, announcing a new interim Head Coach Clive Castillo - an assistant at London Lions - to lead the team in the short term.

Rivalries

San Juan Knights

Davao Occidental's rivalry against the San Juan Knights began in the MPBL when both teams met in back-to-back national finals series (

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

). Despite Davao Occidental competing in other leagues since then, both teams would still encounter each other whenever they compete in the same league. As of February 2024, the Davao Occidental Tigers have met the San Juan Knights a total of fifteen times across all leagues.

Current roster

Head coaches

Notable players

Individual award winners

MPBL finals Most Valuable Player * Mark Yee – 2020–21 All-MPBL First Team * Mark Yee –

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

All-MPBL Second Team * Leo Najorda –

PSL Finals Most Valuable Player * Emman Calo –

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

PSL Most Valuable Player * Gab Dagangon –

* John Wilson –

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

PSL Mythical Team * Robby Celiz –

* Gab Dagangon – 2022 * John Wilson –

All-Stars

MPBL All-Star selections * Leo Najorda –

* Mark Yee – 2019,

* Arthur dela Cruz –

Mac Tallo Mark Jayven "Mac" Tallo (born January 2, 1994) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Pangasinan Heatwaves franchise of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and Pilipinas Super League (PSL). Career First PBA stint T ...

– 2024 MPBL All-Star head coaches * Don Dulay –

PSL All-Star selections * Kyt Jimenez –

* Michole Solera – 2023

PBA players

Ex-PBA players * Alvin Abundo * Robby Celiz * Jervy Cruz * Bonbon Custodio * Arthur dela Cruz * Biboy Enguio * James Forrester * Paulo Hubalde * Brian Ilad * James Martinez * Leo Najorda * Billy Robles * Larry Rodriguez * Renzo Subido *

* John Wilson * Mark Yee * Valandre Chuaca Drafted to PBA * Kyt Jimenez – 76th overall, season 48

Season-by-season records

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League

Pilipinas Super League

References

{{navboxes, list= {{MPBL {{Pilipinas Super League {{Mindanao Sports {{Davao Occidental Tigers 2021 MPBL Lakan Cup Champions

Pilipinas Super League teams 2018 establishments in the Philippines Basketball teams established in 2018 Sports in Davao Occidental