2002 PBA season

2002 PBA season
2002 PBA season
Duration	February 10, 2002 – December 25, 2002
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	Viva TV (IBC)
Draft
Top draft pick	Yancy de Ocampo
Picked by	FedEx Express
Conferences
Governors Cup champions	Purefoods TJ Hotdogs
Commissioner's Cup champions	Batang Red Bull Thunder
All-Filipino Cup champions	Coca-Cola Tigers
Awards
Season MVP	Willie Miller
Seasons
< 2001 2003  >

The 2002 PBA season was the 28th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Board of governors

Executive committee

• Emilio Bernardino, Jr. (Commissioner)
• Francisco Alejo III (Chairman, Purefoods TJ Hotdogs)
• Casiano Cabalan Jr. (Vice-Chairman, Barangay Ginebra Kings)
• Angelito Alvarez (Treasurer, FedEx Express)

Teams

Team	Company	Governor	Alternate Governor
Alaska Aces	Alaska Milk Corporation	Wilfred Steven Uytengsu	Joaquin Trillo
Barangay Ginebra Kings	La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.	Casiano Cabalan Jr.	Ira Daniel Maniquis
Coca Cola Tigers	Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc.	Jose Bayani Baylon	Emmanuel Puno
FedEx Express	Airfrieght 2100, Inc.	Angelito Alvarez
Purefoods TJ Hotdogs	Purefoods Corporation	Francisco Alejo III	Elizier Capacio
Red Bull Thunder	Photokina Marketing Corporation	George Chua	Manuel Mendoza
Sta. Lucia Realtors	Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Corporation	Manuel Encarnado	Ariel Magno
San Miguel Beermen	San Miguel Brewery, Inc.	Alberto Malapit
Shell Turbo Chargers	Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation	Roberto Kanapi
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals	Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company	Victorino Vargas	Al Panlilio

Notable occurrences

• The Tanduay Rhum Masters left the league after three seasons. Their franchise was taken over by the FedEx Express.
• Republic Flour Mills (RFM) sold its subsidiary COSMOS Bottlers Corporation to food company giant San Miguel Corporation. The move also absorbed the Pop Cola Panthers, which gave SMC four PBA ballclubs. After the PBA board gave the go-signal to allow the team to remain in the league, it was renamed as the Coca-Cola Tigers before the start of the 2002 season.
• The league revised its season calendar to accommodate the participation of its players for the upcoming 2002 Asian Games. The Governors' Cup became the first conference of the season while the All-Filipino became the third and final conference.
• The pool for the national team were divided into two teams: Selecta-RP and Happee-RP. Both teams participated for the Governors' Cup.
• Talk 'N Text coach Bill Bayno was fined PHP200,000 after publicly criticizing the league and its official.^[1] This came after Bayno branded the league as "San Miguel Basketball Association" and charged the league officials are favoring the four SMC-owned teams (San Miguel Beermen, Barangay Ginebra Kings, Coca Cola Tigers and Purefoods TJ Hotdogs).^[2]
• This was the last season in which the Commissioner's and Governors Cup were disputed. They were replaced in 2003 by the Invitational and Reinforced Conferences, and eventually the Fiesta Conference. Both conferences will return in 2010 after the league re-adopted the three conference season format.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Team	Muse
Alaska Aces	Pia Guanio
Batang Red Bull Thunder	Assunta de Rossi and Alessandra de Rossi
Barangay Ginebra Kings	Rica Peralejo
Coca-Cola Tigers	Thalia Parks and Yeng Serrano
FedEx Express	Patricia Coronado
Purefoods TJ Hotdogs	Zora Andam
San Miguel Beermen	Anna Shire
Shell Turbo Chargers	LJ Moreno
Sta. Lucia Realtors	Juliet Duncan
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals	Cheska Garcia

Champions

• Governors Cup: Purefoods TJ Hotdogs
• Commissioner's Cup: Batang Red Bull Thunder
• All-Filipino Cup: Coca-Cola Tigers
• Team with best win-loss percentage: Coca-Cola Tigers (31–16, .660)
• Best Team of the Year: Coca-Cola Tigers (1st)

Individual awards

• Most Valuable Player: Willie Miller (Red Bull)
• Rookie of the Year: Ren-Ren Ritualo (FedEx)
• Sportsmanship Award: Paolo Mendoza (Sta. Lucia)
• Most Improved Player: Rob Duat (Alaska)
• Defensive Player of the Year: Davonn Harp (Red Bull)
• Mythical Five
  • Willie Miller (Red Bull)
  • Davonn Harp (Red Bull)
  • Jeffrey Cariaso (Coca-Cola)
  • Victor Pablo (Talk 'N Text)
  • Don Allado (Alaska)
• Mythical Second Team
  • Asi Taulava (Talk 'N Text)
  • Gilbert Demape (Talk 'N Text)
  • Nic Belasco (San Miguel)
  • Kerby Raymundo (Purefoods)
  • Rey Evangelista (Purefoods)
• All Defensive Team
  • Davonn Harp (Red Bull)
  • Chris Jackson (Shell)
  • Rudy Hatfield (Coca-Cola)
  • Jeffrey Cariaso (Coca-Cola)
  • Rey Evangelista (Purefoods)

Awards given by the PBA Press Corps

• Coach of the Year: Ryan Gregorio (Purefoods)
• Mr. Quality Minutes: Ato Morano (Coca-Cola)
• Executive of the Year: George C. Chua (Red Bull)
• Comeback Player of the Year: Ronnie Magsanoc (Purefoods)
• Referee of the Year: Mario Montiel

References

1. Bayno fined a record P.2 for hitting PBA officiating by June Navarro, Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 14, 2002
2. Bernardino summons Bayno, by June Navarro, Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 13, 2002.