Philippine Basketball Association
"A League of Their Own"

“Pare, tara, basket tayo!” (C’mon man, let’s play ball!) – typical filipino dreaming to join the Philippine Basketball Association.

Basketball is like air for most Filipinos. They can’t live without it, or they can but there would always be something missing. In every province, in any city, there’s always some league or group of people where able Filipinos play basketball either for leisure or for competition.

Sometimes, the love for basketball doesn’t necessarily mean that he/she knows how to play. That’s just how it is. The enthusiasm and excitement of every Filipino towards basketball is incomparable to any other place or country in the world.

Through the birth of basketball in the country, the Filipinos were exposed to a sport that they never knew would have this effect on them – an effect which would not just stay in their hearts and lives forever but also give them something to be proud of.

That’s why in 1975, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was founded. It’s a professional basketball league in the Philippines.

Also, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is the first and the oldest professional basketball league; and it’s the second oldest existing professional basketball league in the world after the United States’ National Basketball Association (NBA). That’s why the rules and regulations of the league are formatted to that of the NBA and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Basketball wasn’t always considered as “the game” in the Philippines. Before the Americans’ Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) introduced the game to the country around the 1900s, football (soccer) was the famous game in the Philippines because of the Spanish colonizers. But amidst the strong influence of the Spanish in the country, basketball still went on to replace football (soccer), together with other American sports like baseball, for example.

Only after 75 years after the birth of basketball in the Philippines, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was founded. Much has happened since the founding of the Philippine Basketball Association to today.

One such event, and one that would be remembered by Philippine basketball players and fans, is the Crispa Redmanizers - Toyota Super Corollas rivalry back in the 1970s. This match-up is the most famous team rivalry until today because of the controversies and issues associated with the teams and its members.

Every time these two teams would meet for a match, ticket sales would soar higher than ever before. The Araneta Coliseum, which has a capacity of almost 15,000 seats on a basketball event, would be full and overflowing with die-hard basketball fans coming from all parts of the country.

There was one occasion in which the heat and tension between these two teams were so intense that they engaged in a major fight right at the court, in the middle of the game. Members from both teams were arrested and detained in jail for one night. No other two teams in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) even came close to the rivalry that the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Super Corollas had.

In 2006, there are ten (10) teams that will compete in the 32nd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Some of which have joined since the 1st season of the league like San Miguel Beermen (1975) and Barangay Ginebra Kings (1986); while some only joined recently, the latest being in 2002 by Air21 Express and Coca-Cola Tigers.

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) usually starts in the Araneta Coliseum. A season of the PBA is composed of two (2) tournaments or conferences. The first one is the Philippine Cup, which is the traditional All-Filipino conference. And the second and last is the Fiesta Conference, which has major support from import players.

Changes in the Philippines have affected basketball as a sport. For example, the assassination of former Senator Benigno Aquino led to the disbandment of many teams because of lack of corporate sponsorships.

Another example would be the timeline of basketball in the country. During the early years, back in the 1960s and 1970s, the Philippines represented Asia in the International Basketball Association. What happened in the succeeding years? Have we been left behind because we are too slow? Or are the other countries just too fast?

Whatever the answer to these questions might be, the country is doing its best. We have had all sorts of obstacles with regards to sports and this is just a slight bump on the way. Our country is slowly but surely regaining the glory that it had back when it represented the whole continent in international games and when it alone is competent enough to win an Olympic medal.

PBA Trivia:

• John Kazmer (U-Tex 1981) was the first white import to play in the Philippine Basketball Association
• The tallest PBA player is Edward Joseph Feihl of TJ Hotdogs. Feihl who stands seven feet tall is half German. With his height, Feihl could bang bodies with the centers in the NBA. Feihl is at least three inches taller than other PBA centers like Marlou Aquino, Paul Asi Taulava, James Walkvist, Andy Seigle and Bonel Balingit.
• In 1998, Robert "Sonny" Jaworski was considered the oldest professional basketball player in the world. At 52, he was still donning his No. 7 jersey for Barangay Ginebra, probably the most popular team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). In that year, he played alongside his son Dudut Jaworski for the same team, much to the excitement of the crowd. No other professional player in the world his age has played competitive basketball.
• PBA website: www.pba.com.ph/
  

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