1999 PBA season

Template:Short description Template:Use Philippine English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox PBA season league The 1999 PBA season was the 25th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Season highlights

• A new era began with the entry of Fil-foreign cagers such as Asi Taulava, Danny Seigle and Eric Menk.
• During the opening ceremonies, the PBA honored basketball greats in their respective era as the all-time first five, nominated in each decade from 1950s–1990s were Caloy Loyzaga, Narciso Bernardo, Robert Jaworski, Hector Calma and Alvin Patrimonio, surprisingly absent from the list was Ramon Fernandez, who was then the MBA Commissioner.
• The opening ceremonies for the said season went head-to-head against the opening ceremonies of rival league, MBA, involving the TV network war. The PBA sought the alliance of GMA Network who facilitated their opening ceremonies while MBA used ABS-CBN's roster of stars for its opening ceremonies.
• The PBA transferred from the Cuneta Astrodome to the PhilSports Arena as their main playing venue.
• The league changes their playdates from Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays to Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Friday games were still held exclusively at the Araneta Coliseum while the Sunday games are played at the PhilSports Arena.
• The Tanduay Rhum Masters returned to the PBA after a 12-year absence.
• During the off-season, the league allowed each team to have a direct-hire Filipino-Foreigner recruit as their answer to the increasing popularity of rival basketball league, the Metropolitan Basketball Association.
• Formula Shell became the 10th team to win the All-Filipino crown, and won their first back-to-back championships, the underdog Shell team led by Benjie Paras, Victor Pablo and Gerry Esplana, defied the odds by beating the stronger Tanduay ballclub, composed of powerhouse rookies Sonny Alvarado, Mark Telan, Chris Cantonjos and Eric Menk.
• The San Miguel Beermen, under new coach Jong Uichico, ended a five-year title-drought and won the final two conferences of the season to tie the legendary Crispa Redmanizers for the most championships with 13.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Team	Muse
Alaska Milkmen
Barangay Ginebra Kings	Ruffa Gutierrez
Formula Shell Zoom Masters	Francine Prieto
Pop Cola 800s	Cris Villonco
Mobiline Phone Pals
Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs
San Miguel Beermen	Aileen Damiles
Sta. Lucia Realtors
Tanduay Rhum Masters	Ara Mina

1999 PBA All-Filipino Cup

Playoffs

{{#section-h:1999 PBA All-Filipino Cup|Bracket}}

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2
(1) Mobiline Phone Pals*	1–1	(8) Barangay Ginebra Kings	67–77	81–82
(2) Alaska Milkmen*	1–1	(7) Purefoods TJ Hotdogs	74–86	W–L
(3) Tanduay Gold Rhum Masters*	0–2	(6) Pop Cola 800s	91–77	—
(4) Formula Shell Zoom Masters*	1–0	(5) San Miguel Beermen	79–73	—

*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
(2) Alaska Milkmen	73–95	(8) Barangay Ginebra Kings

Finals

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1999 PBA Commissioner's Cup

Playoffs

{{#section-h:1999 PBA Commissioner's Cup|Bracket}}

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2
(1) Alaska Milkmen*	1–0	(8) Mobiline Phone Pals	88–77	—
(2) Formula Shell Zoom Masters*	1–1	(7) Purefoods TJ Hotdogs	71–78	65–58
(3) Sta. Lucia Realtors*	1–0	(6) Barangay Ginebra Kings	96–75	—
(4) San Miguel Beermen*	1–0	(5) Tanduay Rhum Masters	73–67	—

*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
(1) Alaska Milkmen	93–88	(3) Sta. Lucia Realtors

Finals

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1999 PBA Governors' Cup

Playoffs

1999 PBA Governors' Cup

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2
(1) Purefoods TJ Hotdogs*	1–0	(8) Barangay Ginebra Kings	80–74	—
(2) Tanduay Rhum Masters*	1–1	(7) Mobiline Phone Pals	78–93	84–75
(3) San Miguel Beermen*	1–0	(6) Sta. Lucia Realtors	82–68	—
(4) Alaska Milkmen*	1–0	(5) Shell Velocity	77–65	—

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

Semifinals

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Third place playoff

Team 1	Score	Team 2
(1) Purefoods TJ Hotdogs	92–101	(2) Tanduay Rhum Masters

Finals

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Awards

• Most Valuable Player: Benjie Paras (Shell)
• Rookie of the Year: Danny Seigle (San Miguel)
• Sportsmanship Award: Rey Evangelista (Purefoods)
• Most Improved Player: Elmer Lago (Ginebra)
• Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Jackson (Formula Shell)
• Mythical Five
  • Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
  • Jeffrey Cariaso (Mobiline)
  • Sonny Alvarado (Tanduay)
  • Benjie Paras (Shell)
  • Danny Seigle (San Miguel)
• Mythical Second Team
  • Olsen Racela (San Miguel)
  • Danny Ildefonso (San Miguel)
  • Eric Menk (Tanduay)
  • Jojo Lastimosa (Alaska)
  • Kenneth Duremdes (Alaska)
• All Defensive Team
  • Chris Jackson (Shell)
  • Freddie Abuda (San Miguel)
  • Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska)
  • Dindo Pumaren (Purefoods)
  • Eric Menk (Tanduay)

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

• Coach of the Year:Perry Ronquillo (Shell)
• Mr. Quality Minutes: Rodney Santos (Alaska)
• Executive of the Year: Jun Bernardino (PBA commissioner)
• Comeback Player of the Year: Benjie Paras (Shell)
• Referee of the Year: Ernie de Leon