2016–17 PBA season
The 2016–17 PBA season is the 42nd season of the Philippine Basketball Association. The league continues to use the three-conference format, starting with the Philippine Cup. The Commissioner's Cup and the Governors' Cup are the second and third conferences in the upcoming season.
The first event of the season was the 2016 PBA draft, held on October 30.
Executive board
- Andres Narvasa, Jr.
- Michael Romero
- Ramoncito Fernandez
- Richard Bachmann
Teams
Coaching changes
Arenas
Like several Metro Manila-centric leagues, most games are held at arenas within Metro Manila, either the Smart Araneta Coliseum or the Mall of Asia Arena, and sometimes, in the Ynares Center in Antipolo. Games outside this area are called "out-of-town" games, and are usually played on Saturdays. Provincial arenas usually host one game, rarely two; these arenas typically host only once per season, but a league may return within a season if the turnout is satisfactory.Typically, all playoff games are held in Metro Manila arenas, although playoff and Finals games have been seldom played in the provinces.
Main arenas
Arena | City |
Cuneta Astrodome | Pasay |
Filoil Flying V Centre | San Juan |
Mall of Asia Arena | Pasay |
PhilSports Arena | Pasig |
Smart Araneta Coliseum | Quezon City |
Ynares Center | Antipolo |
Out-of-town arenas
Highlighted are playoff games.Arena | City | Date | Match-up |
Xavier University Gym | Cagayan de Oro | December 17, 2016 | San Miguel vs. NLEX |
Philippine Arena | Bocaue, Bulacan | December 25, 2016 | Mahindra vs. Blackwater Barangay Ginebra vs. Star |
Philippine Arena | Bocaue, Bulacan | October 22, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. Meralco |
Philippine Arena | Bocaue, Bulacan | October 25, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. Meralco |
Philippine Arena | Bocaue, Bulacan | October 27, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. Meralco |
Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena | Angeles | January 7, 2017 | NLEX vs. TNT |
Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena | Angeles | September 2, 2017 | San Miguel vs. Alaska |
University of San Agustin Gym | Iloilo City | January 14, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. Meralco |
Hoops Dome | Lapu-Lapu City | January 21, 2017 | GlobalPort vs. San Miguel |
Hoops Dome | Lapu-Lapu City | August 26, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. Alaska |
Quezon Convention Center | Lucena | February 26, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. San Miguel |
Quezon Convention Center | Lucena | October 13, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. Meralco |
Mindanao Civic Center | Tubod, Lanao del Norte | March 25, 2017 | Star vs. GlobalPort |
University of Southeastern Philippines Gym | Davao City | April 1, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. Phoenix |
Batangas City Sports Center | Batangas City | May 6, 2017 | Rain or Shine vs. Star |
Batangas City Sports Center | Batangas City | October 4, 2017 | TNT vs. Barangay Ginebra |
Ibalong Centrum for Recreation | Legazpi, Albay | May 20, 2017 | TNT vs. Alaska |
Alonte Sports Arena | Biñan | May 26, 2017 | Rain or Shine vs. GlobalPort Barangay Ginebra vs. Blackwater |
Alonte Sports Arena | Biñan | October 1, 2017 | Star vs. Meralco |
Calasiao Sports Complex | Calasiao, Pangasinan | August 5, 2017 | Barangay Ginebra vs. NLEX |
Santa Rosa Sports Complex | Santa Rosa, Laguna | September 9, 2017 | Star vs. Meralco |
Santa Rosa Sports Complex | Santa Rosa, Laguna | October 3, 2017 | Star vs. Meralco |
Transactions
Retirement
- September 10, 2016: Michael Burtscher officially announced his retirement after playing 5 seasons in the PBA.
- November 3, 2016: Jimmy Alapag officially announced his retirement after playing 13 seasons in the PBA.
- November 18, 2016: Yousef Taha officially announced that he left the country back to his hometown Kuwait, thereby ending his PBA career. Taha, though not officially retiring, said that he left for personal reasons and "he felt that it is best for him to not continue his PBA career". Taha played for five different teams in his 4 seasons in the league. However, he returned to the country to play again a year later.
- November 19, 2016: Nelbert Omolon officially announced his retirement after playing 12 seasons in the PBA to focus on his agribusiness career.
- November 27, 2016: Eddie Laure officially announced his retirement after playing 12 seasons in the PBA to focus on new role as coach for UST.
- December 15, 2016: Rob Reyes officially announced his retirement after playing 8 seasons in the PBA.
- May 7, 2017: Eric Menk officially announced his retirement after playing 16 seasons in the PBA.
- September 2, 2017: Mick Pennisi officially announced his retirement after playing 17 seasons in the PBA.
Coaching changes
Offseason
- October 7, 2016: Yeng Guiao resigned as coach of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Assistant coach Caloy Garcia takes over as head coach of the Elasto Painters. Guiao was then signed as the head coach of the NLEX Road Warriors replacing Boyet Fernandez, who will still be with NLEX on a different capacity.
- October 14, 2016: Star Hotshots head coach Jason Webb was appointed as team consultant. Chito Victolero will take over as the Hotshots' head coach.
- October 22, 2016: TNT KaTropa appointed Nash Racela to be its head coach replacing Jong Uichico.
Philippine Cup
- November 25, 2016: GlobalPort Batang Pier formally appointed team consultant Franz Pumaren to be its head coach replacing Johnedel Cardel, who was then relegated as an assistant coach.
Notable events
Pre-season
- The Mahindra Enforcer silently changed their name to Mahindra Floodbuster. The team's new logo debuted during the league's annual draft.
- November 14 – The PBA officially launched its own smartphone application named "PBA: The App" which is currently available on Google Play and Apple App Store. The app featured news articles, scores, schedules, stats of the games and profiles of the teams and players.
Philippine Cup
- December 25 – The league held its Christmas games at the Philippine Arena, featuring games between Blackwater Elite vs Mahindra Floodbuster and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs Star Hotshots. This is the second time the league held its games at the venue.
- The San Miguel Beermen won their third straight Philippine Cup championship against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, four games to one. The Beermen also became the second PBA franchise to keep permanent possession of the Jun Bernardino Trophy.
Commissioner's Cup
- The league took two week-long breaks during the Commissioner's Cup: first during the All-Star Week and second during the Philippines' hosting of the SEABA Championship.
- A different All-Star Week format was adopted for this season. Three PBA All-Star teams, one each with players representing Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao pitted against Gilas Pilipinas, the men's national basketball team. Gilas Pilipinas players played for the PBA All-Star team if they hail to the game's host region.
- PBA Chairman Mikee Romero was issued with a warrant of arrest by the Manila Regional Trial Court over allegations that he stole P3.4 million from his family’s company Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. While Romero will remain as the PBA Chairman, Ramoncito Fernandez of the NLEX Road Warriors will be the acting chairman of the board of governors during Romero's absence.
- April 28 – After the Luzon leg of the All-Star Week, Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes announced the 12 man lineup that will compete for the SEABA Championship. Subsequently, the All-Star Game team lineups for the Visayas leg scheduled on April 30 were altered. June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo, originally supposed to play for the PBA Visayas All-Stars were transferred to the Gilas Pilipinas team. LA Tenorio and Rabeh Al-Hussaini replaced them in the PBA Visayas All-Stars lineup.
- May 28 – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel wore their throwback 1991 Ginebra San Miguel jerseys in honor of the team who won the 1991 First Conference championship coming from a 1-3 deficit.
- June 14 – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel wore their throwback 1996 Ginebra San Miguel jerseys.
Governors' Cup
- The Mahindra Floodbuster changed their name to Kia Picanto. The team's new logo and uniforms debuted at the opening day of the Governors' Cup on July 19.
- August 26 – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel wore their throwback 2001 Barangay Ginebra Kings jerseys in honor of the team who won PBA championships from 2004 to 2008.
- October 22 - Game 5 of the Governors' Cup Finals between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco held at the Philippine Arena set the all-time PBA finals attendance record of 36,445, breaking the previous record of 23,436 fans during Game 3 of the 2013 Commissioner's Cup between Alaska and Barangay Ginebra.
- October 25 - 53,642 fans attended Game 6 of the Governors' Cup Finals at the Philippine Arena. This record broke the finals attendance record as well as the all-time overall attendance record of 52,612, set during the opening of 2014–15 season on October 19, 2014.
- October 27 - Game 7 of the Governors' Cup finals broke the records set on October 22 and October 25 as 54,086 fans watched the series clinching game between Barangay Ginebra and Meralco.
Opening ceremonies
The muses for the participating teams are as follows:
Team | Muse |
Alaska Aces | Ciara Bachmann |
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | Kim Domingo |
Blackwater Elite | Daiana Menezes and Janelle Olafson |
GlobalPort Batang Pier | Valeen Montenegro |
Mahindra Floodbuster | Sophie Rankin |
Meralco Bolts | Maxine Medina |
NLEX Road Warriors | Margo Midwinter |
Phoenix Fuel Masters | Sofia Andres and Elisse Joson |
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters | Justine Mae San Jose |
San Miguel Beermen | Yassi Pressman |
Star Hotshots | Kylie Verzosa |
TNT KaTropa | Angelica Alita |
2016–17 Philippine Cup
Elimination round
Playoffs
Finals results
- Philippine Cup Finals: San Miguel def. Barangay Ginebra, 4 games to 1
- *Finals MVP: Chris Ross
- Best Player of the Conference: June Mar Fajardo
2017 Commissioner's Cup
Elimination round
Playoffs
Finals results
- Commissioner's Cup Finals: San Miguel def. TNT, 4 games to 2
- *Finals MVP: Alex Cabagnot
- Best Player of the Conference: Chris Ross
- Bobby Parks Best Import of the Conference: Charles Rhodes
2017 Governors' Cup
Elimination round
Playoffs
Finals results
- Governors' Cup Finals: Barangay Ginebra def. Meralco, 4 games to 3
- *Finals MVP: LA Tenorio
- Best Player of the Conference: Greg Slaughter
- Bobby Parks Best Import of the Conference: Allen Durham
Individual awards
Leo Awards">The PBA Leo Awards">Leo Awards
- Most Valuable Player: June Mar Fajardo
- Rookie of the Year: Roger Pogoy
- First Mythical Team:
- * Alex Cabagnot
- * Chris Ross
- * June Mar Fajardo
- * Japeth Aguilar
- * Arwind Santos
- Second Mythical Team:
- * Jayson Castro
- * LA Tenorio
- * Kelly Williams
- * Joe Devance
- * Cliff Hodge
- All-Defensive Team:
- * Jio Jalalon
- * Chris Ross
- * June Mar Fajardo
- * Japeth Aguilar
- * Gabe Norwood
- Most Improved Player: Chris Ross
- Samboy Lim Sportsmanship Award: Gabe Norwood
Awards given by the PBA Press Corps
- Scoring Champion: Terrence Romeo
- Baby Dalupan Coach of the Year: Leo Austria
- Mr. Quality Minutes: Jio Jalalon
- Bogs Adornado Comeback Player of the Year: Kelly Williams
- Danny Floro Executive of the Year: Ramon S. Ang
- Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Ross
- Order of Merit: LA Tenorio
- All-Rookie Team
- * Roger Pogoy
- * Jio Jalalon
- * Matthew Wright
- * Kevin Ferrer
- * Reden Celda
- All-Interview Team
- * Tim Cone
- * Jayson Castro
- * Ranidel de Ocampo
- * Beau Belga
- * LA Tenorio
- Game of the Season: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs. Star Hotshots
Statistics
Individual statistical leaders
Local players
Import players
Individual game highs
Local players
Import players
Team statistical leaders
Cumulative standings
Team | GP | W | L | PCT | Best finish |
San Miguel Beermen | 58 | 43 | 15 | Champions | |
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | 64 | 40 | 24 | Champions | |
Star Hotshots | 52 | 32 | 20 | Semifinalist | |
TNT KaTropa | 61 | 36 | 25 | Runners-up | |
Meralco Bolts | 48 | 27 | 21 | Runners-up | |
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters | 39 | 19 | 20 | Quarterfinalist | |
Alaska Aces | 36 | 14 | 22 | Quarterfinalist | |
GlobalPort Batang Pier | 37 | 14 | 23 | Quarterfinalist | |
Blackwater Elite | 36 | 13 | 23 | Quarterfinalist | |
Phoenix Fuel Masters | 36 | 12 | 24 | Quarterfinalist | |
NLEX Road Warriors | 34 | 11 | 23 | Quarterfinalist | |
Mahindra Floodbuster / Kia Picanto | 33 | 6 | 27 | Elimination round |