1997 PBA season
The 1997 PBA season was the 23rd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Season highlights
- For the first time in league history, the top two picks of the Annual Rookie draft were born outside the Philippines, 6-9 Andrew John Seigle, and Nic Belasco were selected at numbers one and two, respectively.
- Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys and Gordon's Gin Boars (formerly Ginebra) played in the All-Filipino Cup finals, only the second time the two rivals meet in a championship series. Gordon's playing coach Sonny Jaworski became the oldest player to play in a PBA finals series at age 51. Purefoods rookie coach Eric Altamirano won his first title as a head mentor.
- Gordon's Gin Boars ended a six-year title drought for the La Tondeña franchise by winning the Commissioner's Cup title over defending champion Alaska Milkmen.
- The Alaska Milkmen retains the Governors' Cup title for the fourth straight time and defend the only crown left in their grandslam conquest last season. Alaska has overtaken the defunct Presto franchise as the fourth winningest ballclub in the PBA.
- Alvin Patrimonio won his fourth MVP award, tying Ramon Fernandez for the most number of MVP awards. [1]
Opening ceremonies
The muses for the participating teams are as follows:
Champions
- All-Filipino Cup: Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys
- Commissioner's Cup: Gordon's Gin Boars
- Governor's Cup: Alaska Milkmen
- Team with best win-loss percentage: Alaska Milk (35-25, .583)
Individual awards
Awards given by the PBA Press Corps
- Coach of the Year: Ron Jacobs (San Miguel)
- Mr. Quality Minutes: Paul Alvarez (San Miguel)
- Executive of the Year: Simon Mossesgeld (Purefoods)
- Comeback Player of the Year: Paul Alvarez (San Miguel)
- Referee of the Year: Ernesto de Leon
Cumulative standings
References
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