AsiaBasket is an Asian men's professional basketball league founded in 2021. The league hosts tournaments mainly consisting of professional and collegiate teams based in Southeast Asia.
| Most recent season or competition: 2023 AsiaBasket Dasmariñas Championship | |
 | |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2021 |
| Founder | Jai Reyes |
| First season | 2021 Subic Championship |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country | Philippines Indonesia Malaysia Brunei Thailand United States (all-time) |
| Continent | FIBA Asia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Benilde Blazers (Dasmariñas 2023) |
| Most titles | six teams (1 title each) |
| TV partner(s) | AsiaBasket (Facebook, YouTube) Solar Sports |
| Official website | asiabasket |
Originally called the Filipino Basketball League, or FilBasket in short, it initially began as a domestic basketball tournament in the Philippines. Its first tournament was the 2021 Subic Championship held in October 2021. The league began inviting international teams in 2022, marking the start of the league's international expansion. The league was renamed as AsiaBasket beginning with the 2023 International Championship.
Six teams have won the championship once, with the most recent champions being the Benilde Blazers, who won the 2023 Dasmariñas Championship.
History
editFilBasket era (2021–2022)
editFilBasket was established by former UAAP player Jai Reyes and Buddy Encarnado of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors in 2021.[1][2] It was founded as a means to provide a platform for basketball players whose careers were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. This includes players of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League which saw its 2019–20 season suspended and the succeeding 2021 season delayed due to COVID-19 measures. Hence, multiple MPBL teams joined the FilBasket tournaments as a way to continue playing competitive games, beginning a trend of MPBL teams taking part in other leagues during the off-season.[2]
Before the league held its first tournament, the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) of the Philippine government contended that FilBasket is a professional league and not an amateur league as the league organizers believe, hence the league falls under its jurisdiction.[3] League organizers admitted that the long-term plan is for the league to become a professional league although it maintains that it would be an amateur league initially.[4] The dispute was reportedly resolved in October 2021, with FilBasket pushing through with its first tournament, the 2021 Subic Championship later that month.[3] Filbasket secured approval from Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the IATF-EID for a bubble tournament at the Subic Bay Gymnasium, in accordance to regulations for amateur leagues.[5]
After the Subic Championship concluded, the GAB issued a cease and desist order insisting that FilBasket is a professional league and declared the Subic Championship as unlawful although it did not impose any further sanctions.[6][7] FilBasket started the process of turning into a professional league recognized by the GAB on February 22, 2022.[8] By March 1, 2022, the league was granted professional status by the GAB.[9]
As FilBasket turned professional, the league began attracting the Asian basketball market with the 2022 Summer Championship, which ran from March until May 2022. The tournament featured the first international team: the Kuala Lumpur Aseel based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, being invited as a guest team.[10] The following tournament would also be its first international tournament, the 2022 International Championship held in the latter part of 2022 in Malaysia.[11] It was also the first tournament under the current format, replacing the traditional round-robin format of other Philippine basketball leagues with a group-stage format.
AsiaBasket era (2023–present)
editOn March 3, 2023, FilBasket announced their renaming to AsiaBasket to accommodate with the expansion into the Asian basketball market. The first tournament under the AsiaBasket name was the 2023 International Championship, which also took place in Malaysia in April 2023. Although the league previously stated that the FilBasket name would be retained for local competitions in the Philippines, the AsiaBasket name was still used for the 2023 Las Piñas Championship in July 2023, which featured an all-Filipino roster of teams competing in Las Piñas.[12] The 2023 Dasmariñas Championship then took place in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines in November 2023, and featured United States-based Statham Academy led by Filipino-American Taylor Statham, marking the first time the league featured a team based outside of Asia.
AsiaBasket then intended to host its first tournament in Visayas with the 2024 Cebu Championship, which would have taken place at the Toledo City Sports Center in Toledo, Cebu. Originally scheduled to start on May 10, 2024, the tournament would eventually not push through. On May 28, 2024, AsiaBasket would delve into youth basketball with the announcement of the AsiaBasket Youth League, which will be held throughout June and July.
Teams
editDasmariñas 2023
editThe following teams competed in the most recent tournament, the 2023 AsiaBasket Dasmariñas Championship.
| Name | Locality | Country | First tournament |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benilde Blazers | Malate, Manila |  Philippines | International 2023 |
| Corsa Tires | — | Las Piñas 2023 | |
| Dasmariñas Monarchs | Dasmariñas, Cavite | Dasmariñas 2023 | |
| Makati Circus Music Festival | Makati | Dasmariñas 2023 | |
| MisOr Mustangs | Misamis Oriental | Dasmariñas 2023 | |
| PCU Dolphins – Dasmariñas | Dasmariñas, Cavite | Dasmariñas 2023 | |
| Pilipinas Aguilas | — | International 2022 | |
| Shawarma Shack Pilipinas | — | International 2022 | |
| Phuket Waves | Phuket |  Thailand | Dasmariñas 2023 |
| Statham Academy | California |  United States | Dasmariñas 2023 |
Previous teams
editThe following teams competed in previous tournaments since the 2022 FilBasket International Championship, the first to include international teams as regular competitors.
| Name | Locality | Country | First tournament | Last tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pegasus Brunei | Bandar Seri Begawan |  Brunei | International 2022 | |
| Bumi Borneo | Pontianak, West Kalimantan |  Indonesia | International 2022 | |
| Elang Pacific Caesar | Surabaya | International 2022 | ||
| KL Aseel | Kuala Lumpur |  Malaysia | Summer 2022 | International 2023 |
| Harimau Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | International 2022 | International 2023 | |
| MBC Kirin | Malacca City | International 2022 | International 2023 | |
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | Loyola Heights, Quezon City | Philippines | Las Piñas 2023 | |
| BGC Builders | Taguig | International 2022 | International 2023 | |
| FEU Tamaraws | Sampaloc, Manila | Las Piñas 2023 | ||
| Letran Knights | Intramuros, Manila | Las Piñas 2023 | ||
| MFT Fruit Masters | — | International 2023 | ||
| Perpetual Altas | Las Piñas | Las Piñas 2023 | ||
| San Beda Red Lions | Mendiola, Manila | International 2023 | Las Piñas 2023 | |
| Sanzar Pharmaceuticals | — | International 2023 | Las Piñas 2023 | |
| The Th3rd Floor – KalosPH | — | International 2023 | ||
| Uratex | Muntinlupa | Las Piñas 2023 | ||
| Singapore Adroit | Woodlands |  Singapore | International 2022 | |
FilBasket era
editThe following teams competed in the league's two domestic tournaments, the 2021 FilBasket Subic Championship and the 2022 FilBasket Summer Championship. As of Dasmariñas 2023, no domestic teams competed in future tournaments.
| Name | Locality | First tournament | Last tournament |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7A Primus | — | Subic 2021 | |
| AFP-FSD Makati Cavaliers / FSD Makati ARMY | Makati | Subic 2021 | Summer 2022 |
| All-Star Bacolod Ballers | Bacolod | Summer 2022 | |
| AICC Manila | Manila | Subic 2021 | |
| AMA Online Education Titans | Quezon City | Summer 2022 | |
| Burlington EOG Sports / Muntinlupa Angelis Resort – EOG Sports | Manila | Subic 2021 | Summer 2022 |
| Muntinlupa | |||
| Danao City MJAS Zenith / Medical Depot | Danao, Cebu | Subic 2021 | Summer 2022 |
| Davao Occidental Tigers | Davao Occidental | Subic 2021 | |
| Immaculada Concepcion College Blue Hawks | Caloocan | Summer 2022 | |
| Muntinlupa Defenders | Muntinlupa | Subic 2021 | |
| Nueva Ecija Bespren | Nueva Ecija | Subic 2021 | |
| Nueva Ecija Capitals | Nueva Ecija | Summer 2022 | |
| Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors | Pasig | Subic 2021 | Summer 2022 |
| San Juan Knights | San Juan | Subic 2021 | Summer 2022 |
| Batangas City Athletics / Tanduay Rum Masters | Batangas City | Subic 2021 | Summer 2022 |
| Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines | Zamboanga City | Summer 2022 | |
List of tournaments
editNumbers in parentheses indicate the number of times that team has appeared in each tournament's championship game, as well as each respective teams' record in those games.
| Tournament | Country | City | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subic 2021 | Philippines | Subic, Zambales | AICC Manila (1, 1–0) | 2–1 (series) | San Juan Knights (1, 0–1) | |
| Summer 2022 | San Jose del Monte, Bulacan Muntinlupa Quezon City | Nueva Ecija Capitals (1, 1–0) | 2–1 (series) | San Juan Knights (2, 0–2) | ||
| International 2022 | Malaysia | Kuala Lumpur | Harimau Malaysia (1, 1–0) | 87–68 | Kuala Lumpur Aseel (1, 0–1) | |
| International 2023 | Kuala Lumpur Aseel (2, 1–1) | 83–72 | San Beda Red Lions (1, 0–1) | |||
| Las Piñas 2023 | Philippines | Las Piñas | Ateneo Blue Eagles (1, 1–0) | 60–57 | Benilde Blazers (1, 0–1) | |
| Dasmariñas 2023 | Dasmariñas, Cavite | Benilde Blazers (2, 1–1) | 105–86 | Statham Academy (1, 0–1) | ||
| Tournament cancelled | ||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Joble, Rey (October 29, 2021). "Why FilBasket insists it is an amateur league". Manila Times. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ a b Joble, Rey (August 11, 2021). "Sta. Lucia joins FilBasket League". The Manila Times. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ a b Mendoza, Martin (October 25, 2021). "Filbasket clears up GAB issue, to push through with inaugural tournament". Rappler. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Rosale, Dale (October 27, 2021). "FilBasket kicks off Thursday". Cebu Daily News. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Reyes, Kate (July 22, 2021). "Jai Reyes to formally open FilBasket this August". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Navarro, June (November 23, 2021). "GAB issues cease and desist order vs Filbasket". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Ramos, Gerry (January 14, 2022). "GAB fires warning after Filbasket's maiden tournament ruled 'unlawful'". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ Li, Matthew (February 22, 2022). "Filbasket, Super League begin process of turning pro". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
- ^ "Pro status, new teams boost Filbasket ahead of second season". ABS-CBN News. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ Li, Matthew (May 8, 2022). "Filbasket: Palma lifts Nueva Ecija to Summer Championship". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Terrado, Reuben (October 23, 2022). "Three Pinoy teams to play in FilBasket Int'l Championship in KL". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Morales, Luisa (March 10, 2023). "Filbasket expands, rebrands into AsiaBasket". The Philippine Star. Retrieved March 11, 2023.