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The Pop Cola Panthers were a professional basketball team that played in 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 ...
from
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
-
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
. The franchise was owned by RFM Corporation. In 2001, when RFM Corporation sold its entire stake in Cosmos Bottling Corporation to Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI), the PBA franchise was included in the transaction. Upon ownership by CCBPI, the PBA franchise renamed the Coca-Cola Tigers beginning the 2002 PBA season and was considered as an expansion team. The franchise also played under the names Pop Cola/Diet Sarsi Sizzlers, Swift Mighty Meaty Hotdogs, Swift Mighty Meaties, Sunkist Orange Juicers/Bottlers and Pop Cola 800s.


History

Pop Cola was one of two expansion franchises to enter the league in the 1990 season, joining softdrink rival
Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
, increasing the number of member teams in the pro league to eight. In their 12-year stint in the PBA, they were known as the Pop Cola Sizzlers, Sarsi, Swift Mighty Meaty, Sunkist Orange Juicers, Sunkist Orange Bottlers and Pop Cola 800s. The team has used the Pop Cola name from 1997 until their final season in the PBA in 2001, although the team was known as Sunkist in the 2000 Commissioners Cup and was known as the Swift Panthers for the first few games of the 2001 Governors Cup. Their first finals appearance came in 1991 All-Filipino, as Diet Sarsi, lost to corporate rival Purefoods TJ Hotdogs, 3 games to 2 in a Best of Five finals series. The team's first PBA title came in
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
, when Swift defeated 7-Up four games-to-none to win the PBA Third Conference under head coach
Yeng Guiao Joseller "Yeng" Medina Guiao (born March 19, 1959) is a Filipino professional basketball head coach, politician, commentator and sports commissioner. He is currently the head coach of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketba ...
. The franchise also fielded one of the dominant imports in PBA history in Tony Harris, who scored a PBA record 105 points for Swift when they defeated Ginebra 151–147 in a game held in
Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...
on October 10, 1992. In 1993, Swift traded Jack Tanuan, Ricric Marata and Andy De Guzman for Sta. Lucia in exchange for their former players in their PABL days, Vergel Meneses and Zaldy Realubit, and this gave Swift its second championship in the newly called Commissioners Cup, gaining revenge over their business rival, Purefoods Oodles, 4 games to 2, the Hotdogs were powered by best import Ronnie Thompkins. the team was title-less the following season in which head coach Yeng Guiao decided to moved over to Pepsi Mega, and Derek Pumaren taking over the coaching chores, Swift made it to the finals in the season-ending Governor's Cup, losing to Alaska in six games. The 1995 season became a banner year for the team. Under the name Sunkist Orange Juicers, the team almost achieved a rare back-to-back winning the All-Filipino and Commissioner's Cup titles before finishing third overall in the season-ending Governor's Cup. The team was bannered by season MVP Vergel Meneses, Bonel Balingit, Boybits Victoria,
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 ...
and Rudy Distrito (who was banned in 1995 for his infamous hard foul on Alaska rookie Jeffrey Cariaso during the All-Filipino finals series). Sunkist/Pop Cola suffered hard times in the
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
and 1997 seasons before their fortunes changed in
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
when the team won a few third-place finishes under head coach
Norman Black Norman Augustus Black (born November 12, 1957) is the current Consultant to the San Beda University Red Lions Basketball team playing in the NCAA Philippines. He is a former professional basketball player who played in the CBA, NBA, and PBA. ...
, who even played one game during the Commissioner's Cup to lead the 800s to a third-place finish in the said tournament. Pop Cola suffered two more losing seasons in
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
and 2000 seasons but had a decent run in their final PBA season in
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
under head coach
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 ...
, copping third place honors in the All-Filipino Conference. The franchise ended when RFM Corporation sold its PBA franchise to Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI), in connection to its sale of Cosmos Bottling Corporation to CCBPI in 2001.


Season-by-season records


Awards


Individual awards


PBA Press Corps Individual Awards


All-Star Weekend


Notable players


PBA's 25 greatest players

* Ato Agustin - "The Atomic Bomb" *
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, ...
#14 - "The Flying A" *
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 ...
- "Captain Marbel" *
Bernie Fabiosa Bernie Fabiosa (born July 23, 1954) is a retired Filipino professional basketball player and actor. He spent most of his playing days with the Crispa Redmanizers in the PBA. During his heyday, he is tops in career steals, earning for himself t ...
#51 - "The Sultan of Swipe" played his final year in the league with the team in 1991. * Jojo Lastimosa - "Jolas" * Vergel Meneses - "The Aerial Voyager"


Other notable players

* William Antonio * Nelson Asaytono * Bonel Balingit * Nic Belasco *
Sonny Cabatu Santiago "Sonny" Cabatu Sr. (born October 10, 1960) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association and was the first draft pick of the league in 1985. He is also the father of current Philippine Pat ...
*Andy De Guzman * Rudy Distrito * Boyet Fernandez * Pido Jarencio *Dwight Lago * Joey Loyzaga *
Ric-Ric Marata Ricardo "Ric-Ric" Marata (December 21, 1964 – April 17, 2010) was a Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. Basketball career Ric-ric played three years for Southwestern University Southwes ...
* Ali Peek * Zaldy Realubit *Elmer Reyes *Eric Reyes * Terry Saldaña * Al Solis * Jack Tanuan *Boybits Victoria * Elpidio Villamin *Jasper Ocampo


Imports

* Michael Anderson * Dexter Boney *David Booth * Marques Bragg * Norris Coleman *
Jevon Crudup Jevon Crudup (born April 27, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. After playing college basketball at the University of Missouri, Crudup was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 1994 NBA draft. During his senior ...
* Jay Edwards * Harold Ellis * Rosell Ellis * Sherell Ford * Tremaine Fowlkes * Paul Graham * Ronnie Grandison * Sean Green * Tony Harris * Shawn Harvey * David Henderson * Sean Higgins * Byron Houston * Alfredrick Hughes *Herb Jones * Marcus Liberty * Lewis Lloyd *Cedric McCullough *Lester Neal * Victor Page *Galen Robinson *Stan Rose * Kenny Sanders * Jason Sasser * Stevin Smith * Carl Thomas *Ronnie Thompkins * Bernard Thompson * Marcus Timmons * Kelvin Upshaw * Jamie Watson *Bryatt Vann


References

{{PBAdefunct Basketball teams established in 1990 Basketball teams disestablished in 2001 Defunct Philippine Basketball Association teams San Miguel Corporation 1990 establishments in the Philippines 2001 disestablishments in the Philippines