1996 PBA season

The 1996 PBA season was the 22nd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Board of governors

Executive committee

• Jun Bernardino (Commissioner)
• Teodoro L. Dimayuga (Chairman, representing Purefoods TJ Hotdogs)
• Nazario L. Avendaño (Vice-Chairman, representing San Miguel Beermen)
• Dr. Antonio V. Concepcion (Treasurer, representing Ginebra San Miguel)

Teams

Team	Company	Governor	Alternate Governor
Alaska Milkmen	Alaska Milk Corporation	Wilfred Steven Uytengsu	Joaquin Trillo
Formula Shell Zoommasters	Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation	Reynaldo Gamboa	Eliseo Santiago
Ginebra San Miguel	La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.	Dr. Antonio Concepcion	Bernabe Navarro, Jr.
Pepsi Mega/Mobiline Cellulars	Lapanday Holdings Corporation	Luis F. Lorenzo
Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	Purefoods Corporation	Teodoro Dimayuga	Eliezer Capacio
San Miguel Beermen	San Miguel Corporation	Nazario Avendaño	Eddie Veneracion
Sta. Lucia Realtors	Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Corporation	Manuel Encarnado	Vicente Santos
Sunkist Orange Juicers	RFM Corporation	Elmer Yanga	Aurora Timbol

Season highlights

• The league's broadcast partner, Vintage Sports, switched networks from People's Television to Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation. They also changed their primary language from English to Tagalog.
• Crowd-favorite Ginebra San Miguel return to their winning ways after years of being a doormat with the entry of top draft pick, 6-9 Marlou Aquino, the Ginebras advances in the semifinals for the first time in three years during the All-Filipino Cup, their season was highlighted by a finals trip in the third conference, losing to grandslam champions Alaska Milkmen.
• The Pepsi Mega Bottlers sold their franchise to PILTEL and was renamed Mobiline Cellulars at the start of the Commissioner's Cup.
• The Alaska Milkmen became the fourth team to win the PBA Grand slam by sweeping all three conferences of the season, joining the 1976 and 1983 Crispa Redmanizers and the 1989 San Miguel Beermen.
• Johnny Abarrientos became the first pure guard to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award since Ricardo Brown in 1985.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Team	Muse
Alaska Milkmen	Anamarie Pukon and Sharon Fuentes
Formula Shell	Teresa Herrera
Ginebra San Miguel	Amanda Page
Pepsi Mega	Maricel Morales (Mutya ng Pilipinas)
Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs	Chantal Umali
San Miguel Beermen	Candice Coral and Gracia
Sta. Lucia Realtors	Cara Sobejano and Abigail Arenas
Sunkist Orange Juicers	Vina Morales

Champions

• All-Filipino Cup: Alaska Milkmen
• Commissioner's Cup: Alaska Milkmen
• Governor's Cup: Alaska Milkmen
• Team with best win–loss percentage: Alaska Milkmen (51-21, .708)
• Best Team of the Year: Alaska Milkmen (1st)

All-Filipino Cup

Elimination round

{{#section:1996 PBA All-Filipino Cup|elimsstandings}}

Semifinal round

{{#section:1996 PBA All-Filipino Cup|semisstandings}}

Third place playoff

Team 1	Score	Team 2
(3) Ginebra San Miguel	99–100	(4) San Miguel Beermen

Finals

Template:ThreeLegStart Template:ThreeLegResult |}

• Finals MVP: Jojo Lastimosa (Alaska)
• Best Player of the Conference: Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)

Commissioner's Cup

Elimination round

{{#section:1996 PBA Commissioner's Cup|elimsstandings}}

Semifinal round

{{#section:1996 PBA Commissioner's Cup|semisstandings}}

Third place playoff

Team 1	Score	Team 2
(2) Ginebra San Miguel	106–111	(4) Sta. Lucia Realtors

Finals

Template:ThreeLegStart Template:ThreeLegResult |}

• Finals MVP: Bong Hawkins (Alaska)
• Best Player of the Conference: Bong Hawkins (Alaska)
• Best Import of the Conference: Ken Redfield (Formula Shell)

Governors' Cup

Elimination round

{{#section:1996 PBA Governors' Cup|elimsstandings}}

Playoffs

{{#section:1996 PBA Governors' Cup|playoffsbracket}}

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2
(3) San Miguel Beermen*	1–1	(6) Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys	Template:No wrap	89–86
(4) Formula Shell Zoom Masters*	1–1	(5) Sunkist Orange Bottlers	100–107	104–101

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

Semifinals

Template:ThreeLegStart Template:ThreeLegResult Template:ThreeLegResult |}

Third place playoff

Team 1	Score	Team 2
(3) San Miguel Beermen	99–103	(4) Formula Shell Zoom Masters

Finals

Template:ThreeLegStart Template:ThreeLegResult |}

• Finals MVP: Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
• Best Player of the Conference: Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)
• Best Import of the Conference: Sean Chambers (Alaska)

Awards

• Most Valuable Player: Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
• Rookie of the Year: Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)
• Sportsmanship Award: Jerry Codiñera (Purefoods)
• Most Improved Player: Edward "Poch" Juinio (Alaska)
• Defensive Player of the Year: Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)
• Mythical Five:
  • Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
  • Rene Hawkins, Jr. (Alaska)
  • Jojo Lastimosa (Alaska)
  • Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods)
  • Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)
• Mythical Second Team:
  • Bal David (Ginebra)
  • Noli Locsin (Ginebra)
  • Jeffrey Cariaso (Alaska)
  • Benjie Paras (Shell)
  • Nelson Asaytono (San Miguel)
• All Defensive Team:
  • Jerry Codiñera (Purefoods)
  • Chris Jackson (Sta. Lucia)
  • Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
  • Jeffrey Cariaso (Alaska)
  • Marlou Aquino (Ginebra)

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

• Coach of the Year: Tim Cone (Alaska)
• Mr. Quality Minutes: Gilbert "Jun" Reyes, Jr. (Alaska)
• Executive of the Year: Jun Bernardino (PBA Commissioner)
• Comeback Player of the Year: Richie Ticzon (Shell)
• Referee of the Year: Ogie Bernarte