1980 PBA season

The 1980 PBA season was the sixth season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Season highlights

• The three-point field goal was introduced at the start of the year.^[1]
• On July 3–7, two PBA selections host the visiting Golden State Warriors, their four-game series ends in a 2-2 tie.
• The U/tex Wranglers wins the Open Conference title by beating Toyota in overtime, 99-98 in the deciding fifth game, best remembered for the famous "Last 16 seconds" when coach Tommy Manotoc's team wiped out a four-point deficit with 16 seconds left in regulation and winning in the extension period.
• Nicholas Stoodley/USA wins the Invitational Conference with a two-game sweep over Toyota Tamaraws, becoming the first foreign team to capture a PBA title.^[2]
• The season-ending tournament marked the Crispa Redmanizers' incredible 20-1 record in the All-Filipino Conference, winning their first 19 games and almost completed a conference sweep, if not for Toyota's victory in Game 3 of the finals, which saw the dismissal of their head coach Fort Acuña.

Opening ceremonies

The muses for the participating teams are as follows:

Champions

• Open Conference: U/Tex Wranglers
• Invitational Championship: Nicholas Stoodley USA
• All-Filipino Conference: Crispa Redmanizers
• Team with best win-loss percentage: Crispa Redmanizers (44-15, .746)
• Best Team of the Year: Crispa Redmanizers (3rd)

Individual awards

• Most Valuable Player: Philip Cezar (Crispa)
• Rookie of the Year: Willie Generalao (Gilbey's Gin)
• Mythical Five:
  • Robert Jaworski (Toyota)
  • Atoy Co (Crispa)
  • Ramon Fernandez (Toyota)
  • Bogs Adornado (U/Tex)
  • Philip Cezar (Crispa)

Cumulative standings

References