The PBA Commissioner's Cup is one of three active conferences in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is also one of two conferences, the other being the Governors' Cup which allows teams to hire a single foreign player, known as an "import". The Commissioner's Cup also refers to the trophy awarded to the champion team.
The first run of the Commissioner's Cup lasted from 1993 to 2002. In 2003, it was replaced by the returning Invitational Championship, and from 2004 to 2010, the Fiesta Conference was held as the lone import-laden conference. The conference was then reinstated 2011 when the league reverted back to a three-conference format.
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel are the current defending Commissioner's Cup champions, winning the 2026 PBA Commissioner's Cup. The San Miguel Beermen have won the most Commissioner's Cup titles with five.
History
1993–1998 During the 1993 PBA season, the league moved the All-Filipino Conference as the first tournament of the season and made the Second Conference as the Commissioner's Cup, a reference to the PBA Commissioner. The conference was the second tournament held in a PBA season.
The Swift/Sunkist franchise won the tournament in 1993 and 1995. Purefoods, with Kenny Redfield as import and Chot Reyes as head coach, defeated Alaska in 1994.
During Alaska's grandslam season of 1996, they won the Commissioners Cup title over Shell in a grueling seven-game series. The Gordon's Gin Boars ended their six-year drought, winning over the Milkmen in 1997, giving playing coach Robert Jaworski his last PBA title on both capacities. A year later, Alaska had Devin Davis as import to win the title over San Miguel.
1999–2002 From 1999 to 2000, San Miguel won the Commissioners Cup with Terquin Mott and Stephen Howard as imports. But in 2001, the Beermen were upset by the Red Bull Thunder, with Best Import Antonio Lang in six games.
In 2002, with most of the teams' star players are with the national squad, the PBA once again allowed teams to take two imports with a combined 13 feet and six inches maximum height limit. Red Bull won the series over Talk 'N Text in seven games, its second straight. No team has won two straight Commissioner's Cups since then.
2010s The tournament was retired in 2003 after the re-introduction of the Invitational Championship as the second conference of the season but was eventually reactivated in 2011 after the league restored the three-conference season format. The 2011 Commissioner's Cup also saw the return of Smart Gilas, the Philippine national team, to the PBA after last playing in the 2009–10 Philippine Cup. They became the first national team to qualify for the playoffs. However, they would be defeated by the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the semifinals. The Kings would then lose to the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters in the finals in six games.
2020s In 2020, the Commissioner's Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following season saw only two conferences, the Philippine Cup and the Governors' Cup. It made its return during the 2022–23 season. In this season, the Bay Area Dragons joined the league as a guest team. Although they had they finished first in the standings in the elimination rounds, they would lose to Ginebra in the finals. For the 2023–24 season, the Commissioner's Cup was the opening tournament.
Tournament format From 1993 to 1996, the teams were divided into two groups in the group stage. The teams in the same group will play against each other once and against teams in the other group twice. After the eliminations, the top five teams will advance to a double-round robin semifinals. A playoff incentive will be given to a team that will win five of their eight semifinal games should they fail to get the top two finals berths. The top two teams (or the No. 1 team and the winner of the playoff between team with at least 5 semifinal wins and the No. 2 team) will face each other in a best-of-seven championship series.
Between from 1997 to 1999 (who has been entry of the Tanduay Rhum Masters) and again in 2001, the league adopted a quarterfinal-semifinal playoff format with the top two seeds advancing automatically to the semifinals and the next four teams will be matched up in the quarterfinals. The winners will advance to the semifinal round and to compete against the two top seeded teams in a best-of-five series. The winners of the semifinal round will then advance to the best-of-seven championship series. This format was slightly modified due to the entry of the Batang Red Bull Thunder in 2000. The top eight teams after a round-robin regular round will advance to the quarterfinals. The top two seeds will have a twice-to-beat advantage against the last two seeded teams. Other seeded teams will compete in a best-of-three playoffs. The winners will compete in a best-of-five semifinals series. Then the winners of the semifinals will advance to a best-of-seven finals series.
After the reintroduction of the tournament in 2011, the league adopted a tournament format similar on what was used in 2001. The top two teams will gain automatic semifinals seed while the next four teams will compete in a best-of-three quarterfinals.
From the 2013 edition of the tournament, the playoff format was revised and adopted the similar on what was used in 2002, in which the first two teams will gain a twice to beat advantage against the last two seeded teams and the other teams will compete for a best of three playoffs.
The height limit for import players varies from every year. In the tournament's reintroduction in 2011, the height limit was 6'4" (1.93 m). In 2012, the league removed the height restrictions. The handicapping system was reinstated in 2014, where the height limit of 6'9" (2.06 m) was imposed for the playoff teams of the previous Philippine Cup. In 2017, the limit was 6'10" (2.08 m) for all teams. The limit stayed at that height until the 2023–24 season, when the height limit was lowered to 6'9" (2.06 m).
Trophy design
The trophy design used since the 1994 season features the Commissioner's Cup with the league logo at the front. The cup is placed in a base where the name of and the year of the tournament is engraved. Red, blue and yellow ribbons were placed in the handles of the trophy, mirroring the colors in the PBA logo. The winner keeps permanent possession of the trophy and a new one is created every year. In 2012, the trophy's cup handles were modified and the league logo was replaced with the tournament's season logo.
A prototype version of this trophy, first shown during the 1994 PBA opening ceremonies, is on display at the lobby of the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City.
List of champions
Per season SeasonChampionRunner-upSeriesDetailsSwift Mighty Meaty HotdogsPurefoods Oodles4–2tournament detailsPurefoods Tender Juicy HotdogsAlaska Milkmen4–1tournament detailsSunkist Orange JuicersAlaska Milkmen4–2tournament detailsAlaska MilkmenFormula Shell Zoom Masters4–3tournament detailsGordon's Gin BoarsAlaska Milkmen4–2tournament detailsAlaska MilkmenSan Miguel Beermen4–2tournament detailsSan Miguel BeermenFormula Shell Zoom Masters4–2tournament detailsSan Miguel BeermenSta. Lucia Realtors4–1tournament detailsRed Bull ThunderSan Miguel Beermen4–2tournament detailsRed Bull ThunderTalk N' Text Phone Pals4–3tournament details2003–2010: no tournament heldTalk 'N Text Tropang TextersBarangay Ginebra Kings4–2tournament detailsB-Meg LlamadosTalk 'N Text Tropang Texters4–3tournament detailsAlaska AcesBarangay Ginebra San Miguel3–0tournament detailsSan Mig Super Coffee MixersTalk 'N Text Tropang Texters3–1tournament detailsTalk 'N Text Tropang TextersRain or Shine Elasto Painters4–3tournament detailsRain or Shine Elasto PaintersAlaska Aces4–2tournament detailsSan Miguel BeermenTNT KaTropa4–2tournament detailsBarangay Ginebra San MiguelSan Miguel Beermen4–2tournament detailsSan Miguel BeermenTNT KaTropa4–2tournament details2020–2021: Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemicBarangay Ginebra San MiguelBay Area Dragons4–3tournament detailsSan Miguel BeermenMagnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots4–2tournament detailsTNT Tropang GigaBarangay Ginebra San Miguel4–3tournament detailsBarangay Ginebra San MiguelTNT Tropang 5G4–3tournament details
Per franchise TotalFranchiseLast championship 5 San Miguel 2023–24 4 Barangay Ginebra/Gordon's Gin 20263 Alaska* 2013 San Mig Super Coffee/B-Meg/Purefoods 2014 Talk 'N Text/TNT 2024–252 Swift/Sunkist* 1995 Red Bull* 2002 1 Rain or Shine 2016 Defunct franchise
Individual awards Best Player of the Conference ^Denotes player who is still active in the PBA *Inducted into the PBA Hall of FamePlayer (X)Denotes the number of times the player has been named BPC
SeasonBest PlayerTeam 1994 Alvin Patrimonio* Purefoods 1995 Vergel Meneses Sunkist 1996 Bong Hawkins Alaska 1997 Johnny Abarrientos Alaska 1998 Kenneth Duremdes Alaska 1999 Benjie Paras* Shell 2000 Danny Ildefonso San Miguel 2001 Danny Ildefonso (2) San Miguel 2002 Davonn Harp Red Bull 2011 Jimmy Alapag Talk 'N Text 2012 Mark Caguioa Barangay Ginebra 2013 LA Tenorio^ Barangay Ginebra 2014 Jayson Castro^ Talk 'N Text 2015 Jayson Castro^ (2) Talk 'N Text 2016 Calvin Abueva^ Alaska 2017 Chris Ross^ San Miguel 2018 June Mar Fajardo^ San Miguel 2019 Jayson Castro^ (3) TNT 2022–23 Scottie Thompson^ Barangay Ginebra 2023–24 CJ Perez^ San Miguel 2024–25 Arvin Tolentino^ NorthPort 2026 RJ Abarrientos^ Barangay Ginebra
Bobby Parks Best Import award Year Best Import Team 1993 Ronnie Thompkins Swift 1994 Ken Redfield Purefoods 1995 Ronnie Grandison Sunkist 1996 Ken Redfield (2) Shell 1997 Jeff Ward San Miguel 1998 Devin Davis Alaska 1999 Terquin Mott San Miguel 2000 Ansu Sesay Sta. Lucia 2001 Antonio Lang Red Bull 2002 Jerald Honeycutt Talk 'N Text 2011 Nate Brumfield Barangay Ginebra 2012 Denzel Bowles B-Meg 2013 Robert Dozier Alaska 2014 Richard Howell Talk 'N Text 2015 Wayne Chism Rain or Shine 2016 Arinze Onuaku Meralco 2017 Charles Rhodes San Miguel 2018 Justin Brownlee Barangay Ginebra 2019 Terrence Jones TNT 2022–23 Justin Brownlee (2) Barangay Ginebra 2023–24 Johnathan Williams Phoenix Super LPG 2024–25 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson TNT 2026 Justin Brownlee (3) Barangay Ginebra
References
External links PBA.ph