1996 Philippine Basketball League season
| 1996 PBL season | |
|---|---|
| Duration | March 16 - December 14, 1996 |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Conferences | |
| Import Reinforced champions | Hapee Toothpaste |
| Runners-up | Stag Pale Pilseners |
| All-Filipino Cup champions | Agfa HDC Film |
| Runners-up | Stag Pale Pilseners |
| Danny Floro Cup champions | Stag Pale Pilseners |
| Runners-up | Springmaid Flak Eliminators |
| Seasons | |
| Qualified for semifinals |
| Qualified for semifinals |
| Qualified for finals |
The 1996 season of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).
First Conference champion Hapee Toothpaste represent the Philippine team in the ABC Champions Cup slated June 2–9 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. The Philippines-Hapee, coached by Junel Baculi and reinforced by ex-PBA imports Tony Harris and Bobby Parks, along with Hapee mainstays Joel Dualan, Erwin Framo, Oscar Simon, Ramon Pido and borrowed players from Red Bull, Danny Ildefonso and Henry Fernandez, won the title by defeating Isuzu lynx of Japan, 77-74, in the finale.
Agfa Colors, which won the All-Filipino Cup, represent the country to the Jones Cup in Taipei and place 6th in the tournament.
The respective teams' imports are Ma Jian of Hapee Toothpaste, Lucious Jackson of Burger Machine, Fred Vinsons of Carol Ann's, Claude Moore of Casino Rubbing Alcohol, David Vanterpool of Chowking Fastfood, Steve Worthy of defending champion Stag Pale Pilsen, who was replaced by Robert Phelps, Kevin Ardister of Red Bull, replaced by Jerry Stroman, and for Oriental Battery, Darnell Sneed, replaced by Eric Jones, who in turn, was replaced by former PBA import and Ginebra reinforcement Alexander Coles.
Hapee Toothpaste and Stag Pale Pilsen went on to play in the best-of-five championship series after the one round, six-team semifinals.
The Cavity Fighters ended a three-year wait for the title and claim their first-ever PBL crown, defeating the defending champion Stag Pale Pilseners, which won the Grandslam earlier in the year in a cinderella fashion, in four games. Chinese import Ma Jian led Hapee with 22 points and 8 rebounds as the Cavity Fighters gained the right to represent the country minus the 6-7 Ma Jian in the upcoming Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Champions Cup.
Newcomer Welcoat Paints debut with an upset 79-70 win over Hapee Toothpaste, who just won another championship in the ABC Champions Cup. After the two round eliminations, four teams makes it to the round-robin semifinals. Leaders Stag Pale Pilsen and Agfa HDC Films made it to the best-of-three finals series.
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