| 2002 PBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Philippine Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| TV partner/s | Viva TV (IBC) |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | Willie Miller (Red Bull) |
| Top scorer | Willie Miller (Red Bull) |
| Finals | |
| Governors' Cup champions | Purefoods TJ Hotdogs |
| Governors' Cup runners-up | Alaska Aces |
| Commissioner's Cup champions | Batang Red Bull Thunder |
| Commissioner's Cup runners-up | Talk 'N Text Phone Pals |
| All-Filipino Cup champions | Coca-Cola Tigers |
| All-Filipino Cup runners-up | Alaska Aces |
The 2002 PBA season was the 28th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Season highlights[]
- 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 however removed the "voting rights" of Purefoods to retain parity within the Board of Governors.
- 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. The teams were later merged to form the final lineup of the national team in the Commissioner's Cup, retaining the Selecta-RP branding.
- Talk 'N Text coach Bill Bayno was fined PHP200,000 after publicly criticizing the league and its official. 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).
- This was the last season in which the Commissioner's and Governors Cup were disputed before the tournaments were reinstated in the 2010-11 season. They were replaced in 2003 by the Invitational and Reinforced Conferences in 2003, and eventually the Fiesta Conference in 2004 after the league reduced the number of conferences in a PBA season to two.
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)