Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
coach who is the head coach of
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 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 franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...
(PBA). He is the most accomplished coach in PBA history with twenty-four (24) titles, including two (2) Grand Slams, four (4) Coach of the Year awards, and the winningest coach of the league tallying more than one thousand (1000) games won. He is a proponent of the
triangle offense.
Early life and education
Cone was born in the United States and grew up in
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
. He moved to the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
when he was nine years old after his father came to the country to work in the logging industry. Cone studied in a public elementary school in
Baler
A baler or hay baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay, cotton, flax straw, salt marsh hay, or silage) into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store. Often, bales are configu ...
,
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
and later moved to the
International School Manila
International School Manila (abbreviation: ISM) is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian international school located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1920 as the American School by a group of American and Bri ...
.
Cone returned to the United States when he was 18 years old to study at the
Menlo College
Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and is located in Atherton, California.
Campus
Menlo College is situated on 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and 20 miles nort ...
in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
and the
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, presi ...
in
Washington D.C. After graduating from college, Cone worked in a bank in San Francisco before returning to the Philippines at age 24.
Coaching career
Club
Alaska Milk (1989–2011)
In 1989, Cone took over as the coach of the Alaska Air Force with players such as the famed Bruise Brothers duo of
Yoyoy Villamin and Ricky Relosa, and
Abet Guidaben. A year later, Cone led the Air Force to the finals of the
1990 PBA Third Conference. Alaska blew a 2–0 lead in the best-of-five series to suffer one of the biggest collapses in PBA history, losing to
Purefoods in five games.
Cone was barred from coaching in the
1991 PBA All-Filipino Conference due to a February 1990 case filed by the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines questioning the alien employment permit given to Cone by the Department of Labor and Employment. The group's complaints stemmed from Article 40 of the Labor Code that only allows the hiring of a foreigner only after determining that no Philippine resident is competent, able, and willing to perform services at the time of application. The
Supreme Court of the Philippines
The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on J ...
ruled against General Milling Corporation, Cone's corporate employer, in April 1991. Cone was able to return to PBA coaching when he gained permanent resident status after his August 1991 marriage to Filipina girlfriend Cristina Viaplana.
Cone and Alaska won their first championship by defeating
Ginebra San Miguel in the
1991 Third Conference. That team was led by
Jojo Lastimosa, Eugene Quilban and Bong Alvarez.
After several struggles, Cone's team would have a strong group of locals
Lastimosa Lastimosa is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Carlo Lastimosa (born 1990), Filipino basketball player
* Jojo Lastimosa (born 1964), Filipino basketball player
* Leo Lastimosa
Leo Andanar Lastimosa (born September 26, 1964) ...
,
Johnny Abarrientos,
Bong Hawkins,
Jeffrey Cariaso and
Poch Juinio, while having import
Sean Chambers for the Milkmen. From 1994 to 1998, the Milkmen won eight titles in 14 conferences during the stretch. The highlight of that run, though, would come in the 1996 season when Alaska won the coveted
PBA Grand Slam, becoming the third franchise and the fourth team to win a Grand Slam in the history of the league.
While Alaska continued to dominate by adding
Kenneth Duremdes in 1997. Duremdes, playing a limited role with the Pop Cola franchise, rose up to the occasion in 1998 under Cone's tutelage, winning the
PBA Most Valuable Player Award
The Philippine Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) award given since the start of the league in 1975 to the best performing player of the season. The award is decided using criter ...
at 24 years of age. That year, Cone was hired as the coach of the
Philippine Centennial Team led by Duremdes, Abarrientos, Lastimosa, three players on Cone's Alaska team, and PBA stars
Alvin Patrimonio,
Marlou Aquino,
Vergel Meneses
Vergel Corpuz Meneses (born January 14, 1969) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player and a politician, serving as mayor of the municipality of Bulakan, Bulacan. He previously played in the Philippine Basketball Association and ...
and
Allan Caidic. That team won a bronze medal in the
1998 Asian Games
The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...
in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in 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 estimated populatio ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
.
Alaska won the
2000 All-Filipino Cup, but afterwards, the team faced rebuilding and traded away several remnants of the old Alaska. Cone, however, would lead the young team of
John Arigo and
Ali Peek to runner-up finishes in the
2002 Governors' and All-Filipino Cup. A year later, the Aces added
UAAP star
Mike Cortez and
Brandon Cablay, leading Alaska to the
2003 PBA Invitational Cup
The 2003 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Samsung-Invitational Championship, was the second conference of the 2003 PBA season. It started on July 27 and ended on August 23, 2003. The tournament features three guest foreign teams from Korea, ...
championship, Cone's 11th title.
On July 17, 2006, Manila Standard reported that after his 17 years of service Alaska is set to terminate Cone depending on a meeting between both parties after Cone's contract with the Aces expired on July 15. Rumors also speculated that his replacement will be his former assistant, former
National team mentor
Chot Reyes
Vincent "Chot" P. Reyes (born August 1, 1963) is a Filipino basketball head coach for the TNT Tropang Giga for the Philippine Basketball Association. He is also the head coach of the Philippine national basketball team, where he led the team to ...
, with Cone staying on as team consultant.
However, a day later, the Aces' official website reported that Cone has agreed to a new deal to stay on as the team's head coach for the
2006–07 PBA season
The 2006–07 PBA season was the 32nd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The season started September 28 in Guam and began its formal opening on October 1 at the Araneta Coliseum, and ended on July 20. The league started the se ...
. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Purefoods (2011–2015)
On September 1, 2011, Alaska team owner Wilfred Uytengsu announced that it has "released Tim Cone as head coach of the Alaska Aces" after his 22 years of service for the Alaska Aces. Uytengsu remarked that Cone requested to be released a week earlier. Cone was quick to deny in a press conference that he is set to coach
B-Meg Llamados, another PBA team.
On September 14, 2011, Tim Cone was at the B-Meg Llamados practice that day and was introduced as the new head coach. He tapped former Alaska players
Johnny Abarrientos and
Jeffrey Cariaso as assistant coaches. The two new assistant coaches were joined by current assistant coach
Koy Banal.
On May 6, 2012, the Llamados won the
2012 PBA Commissioner's Cup championship 4–3 over defending champion
Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters
The TNT Tropang Giga 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 ...
. This was Cone's 14th title, and his first with B-Meg.
On October 25, 2013, the Llamados, under Cone's tutelage, won the
PBA Governors Cup championship, after beating
Petron Blaze Boosters. By winning the season-ending best-of-seven series 4–3, the former Purefoods ballclub won its second championship over the last five conferences and more importantly the 15th career title for Cone, putting the veteran coach in the company of the great
Baby Dalupan at the top of the all-time list.
On February 26, 2014, Cone won his 16th PBA title as he guided the Mixers to their 11th title against the
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. They beat the E-Painters in six games. With this win, he broke legendary
Baby Dalupan's record. On May 15, 2014, San Mig Coffee Mixers beat the Talk N' Text Tropang Texters in Game 4 of best-of-five series, where San Mig earned the chance to capture the rare Grand Slam. This championship gave Tim Cone his 17th PBA title. He clinched his 18th title, and again made history by being the first mentor to win two Grand Slams after he steered San Mig Coffee to become
Grand Slam Champions while accomplishing four straight championships and grabbing the 2014 Governor's Cup title.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

On July 20, 2015, San Miguel Corporation president
Ramon Ang confirmed the appointment of Cone as the new head coach of
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. The reassignment of Cone will seek to end the curse of Ginebra which last won in the
2008 Fiesta Conference.
On October 4, 2016, Cone led
Brgy. Ginebra to its first Finals appearance since 2013. Ginebra defeated sister team
San Miguel Beermen in a do or die Game 5, 117–92. Ginebra went on to face the
Meralco Bolts in the Finals and winning in six games (4–2), giving the team its first championship after 8 years of drought. Cone later led Ginebra to five more championships.
On November 18, 2022, he recorded his 1000th win, the most wins for a PBA coach.
National team
Tim Cone has led the
Philippine men's national basketball team as its head coach. He guided the
Philippine Centennial Team to a bronze medal at the
1998 Asian Games
The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...
. Prior to that, the national team under Cone's watch had a training camp in the U.S. and won the 1998 William Jones Cup. In September 2019, he was appointed head coach of the national team again for at least the
2019 Southeast Asian Games
The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...
following the resignation of Yeng Guiao following the Philippines poor performance in the
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup
The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 that did not ...
.
Personal life
Tim Cone is married to Cristina Viaplana, a Filipino, since August 1991 after dating for seven years.
Cone's daughter works in the United States as of 2019. He can also speak Filipino although he prefers to speak in English in press conferences.
List of PBA championships
24×
PBA champion, 36× Finals appearances
in
Alaska Franchise (13):
*
1991 Third Conference
*
1994 Governors'
*
1995 Governors'
*
1996 All-Filipino
*
1996 Commissioner's
*
1996 Governors'
*
1997 Governors'
*
1998 All-Filipino
*
1998 Commissioner's
*
2000 All-Filipino
*
2003 Invitational
*
2007 Fiesta
*
2010 Fiesta
in
Purefoods Franchise (5):
*
2012 Commissioner's
*
2013 Governors'
*
2013–14 Philippine
*
2014 Commissioner's
*
2014 Governors'
in
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (6):
*
2016 Governors'
*
2017 Governors'
*
2018 PBA Commissioner's
*
2019 Governors'
*
2020 Philippine
*
2021 Governors'
PBA Head Coaching record
, -
, align="left" ,
Alaska Aces
, align="left" , 2009–10
, 62, , 39, , 23, , .629 , , align="center", Lost
2010 Philippine Cup Finals Won
2010 Fiesta Conference Finals
, -
, align="left" ,
Alaska Aces
, align="left" , 2010–11
, 42, , 22, , 20, , .524 , , align="center", Lost
2011 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals Round
Lost
2011 Commissioner's Cup Quarterfinals Round
Lost
2011 Governors' Cup Semifinals round
, -
, align="left" ,
B-Meg Llamados
, align="left" , 2011–12
, 62, , 38, , 24, , .613 , , align="center", Lost
2012 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals Round
Won
2012 Commissioner's Cup Finals Lost
2013 Governors' Cup Finals
, -
, align="left" ,
San Mig Super Coffee Mixers
, align="left" , 2012–13
, 64, , 38, , 26, , .594 , , align="center", Lost
2013 Philippine Cup Semifinals Round
Lost
2013 Commissioner's Cup Semifinals Round
Won
2013 Governors' Cup Finals
, -
, align="left" ,
San Mig Super Coffee Mixers
, align="left" , 2013–14
, 71, , 41, , 30, , .577 , , align="center", Won
2014 Philippine Cup Finals Won
2014 Commissioner's Cup Finals Won
2014 Governors' Cup Finals
, -
, align="left" ,
Star Hotshots
, align="left" , 2014–15
, 45, , 24, , 21, , .533 , , align="center", Lost
2015 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals round
Lost
2015 Commissioner's Cup Semifinals round
Lost
2015 Governors' Cup Semifinals round
, -
, align="left" ,
Barangay Ginebra
, align="left" , 2015–16
, 49, , 31, , 18, , .633 , , align="center", Lost
2016 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals round
Lost
2016 Commissioner's Cup Quarterfinals round
Won
2016 Governors' Cup Finals
, -
, align="left" ,
Barangay Ginebra
, align="left" , 2016–17
, 64, , 40, , 24, , .625 , , align="center", Lost
2017 Philippine Cup Finals Lost
2017 Commissioner's Cup Semifinals round
Won
2017 Governors' Cup Finals
, -
, align="left" ,
Barangay Ginebra
, align="left" , 2017–18
, 57, , 35, , 22, , .614 , , align="center", Lost in
2018 Philippine Cup Semifinals round
Won
2018 Commissioner's Cup Finals Lost in
2018 Governor's Cup Semifinals round
, -
, align="left" ,
Barangay Ginebra
, align="left" , 2018–19
, 52, , 33, , 19, , .635 , , align="center", Lost in
2019 Philippine Cup Quarterfinals round
Lost in
2019 Commissioner's Cup Semifinals round
Won
2019 Governors' Cup Finals
, -
, align="left" ,
Barangay Ginebra
, align="left" , 2020
, 22, , 16, , 6, , .727 , , align="center", Won
2020 Philippine Cup Finals
, -class="sortbottom"
, align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 590, , , 357, , , 233, , .6051, ,
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cone, Tim
1957 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from Oregon
Basketball players from Oregon
George Washington University alumni
Menlo Oaks men's basketball players
Alaska Aces (PBA) coaches
Philippine Basketball Association broadcasters
Philippines men's national basketball team coaches
People from Aurora (province)
Magnolia Hotshots coaches
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coaches