Early years in
Tokyo. The Philippines first participated in international basketball in the
Far Eastern Championship Games in 1913. The Philippines defeated
China in what was the first international game in Asia. The Philippines won all but one (1921) championship until 1934. The games were not under the supervision of
FIBA as the organization was founded in 1932. The
Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) was founded in 1936, and became a part of FIBA later that year. Also in the same year, the BAP sent a team nicknamed "the Islanders" that participated in the first
Olympic basketball tournament in Berlin. With the tournament under a single-elimination round format from the third game onwards, the Philippines won their first three games only to face the
United States in their fourth game. The USA doubled the Philippines' score as they advanced to the next round, and subsequently win the gold medal undefeated. The Philippines wound up fifth place, winning the rest of their games, in the best finish by a men's Asian team in Olympic basketball history. Aside from silver medalists Canada, the Philippines was the only other team that only had one loss in the tournament. The Philippines returned to the
1948 Olympics in London. The team finished fourth of six teams in their group to be eliminated. The team wound up in twelfth place. . In the 1950s–1960s, the Philippines was among the best in the world, producing world-class players like
Carlos Loyzaga,
Lauro Mumar, Mariano Tolentino, Francisco Rabat and
Edgardo Ocampo. In 1951, team won the inaugural
Asian Games basketball tournament in New Delhi, India. The team finished ahead of Japan and four other teams to win the gold medal. On the next Asian Games in 1954 in Manila that served as a qualifiers for the World Championship later that year, the team finished first anew, beating out the Republic of China (Taiwan), Japan and South Korea in the final round. In
1954 FIBA World Championship in Brazil, Loyzaga was a part of the Mythical Team selection, where the Philippines won the bronze medal. The Philippines finished second in their group behind Brazil and ahead of
Paraguay to enter the final round, where the team lost against the US by only 13 points; only the loss against the US and two losses against Brazil were the Philippines' only losses in the world championship. To date, the Philippines' performance remains the best performance by an Asian team in the World Championship. In the
1956 Olympics, the Philippines finished seventh. The team qualified to the quarterfinals, with only loss against the USA. However, the team lost all of their games against France, Uruguay and Chile in the quarterfinals. The Philippines defeated Chile in the seventh-place game to finish with a 4–4 record. Two years later, in the
1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, the Philippines won its third consecutive gold medal, finishing first in the final round. The Philippines was grouped with Bulgaria, Puerto Rico and Uruguay in the
1959 FIBA World Championship. The team finished third, losing against Bulgaria and Puerto Rico, to crash out of the final round. The Philippines won all of the games in the classification round against the United Arab Republic (Egypt) and Canada to meet Uruguay for the eighth-place game. The team defeated Uruguay again to finish eighth. This would be the last tournament of Loyzaga and company.
Asian Championship Starting in 1960, the
Asian Basketball Championship was held to determine Asia's participants in the Olympics and the World Championships. Qualifying for the Asian Championship was by subzone, or by the ranking in the most recent tournament; in this case, with the Philippines being the strongest team in Southeast Asia, the country will qualify easily for the continental championship, even if they failed to qualify via rankings from the previous tournament. The inaugural Asian Championship was held in
Manila. With an Asian Championship, the Philippines qualified for the
1960 Olympics. In Rome, the Philippines did not qualify for the medal round, but did beat
Spain in the preliminaries, ultimately finishing 11th out of 16 nations. The country was supposed to host the 1963 World Championship, but President
Diosdado Macapagal refused to allow players from
Yugoslavia and other communist countries to enter the country. This caused the Philippines, despite winning the Asian Championships, to qualify via a pre-Olympic tournament, in which they were unsuccessful. In the fifth championship at
Bangkok, the Philippines finished third, after a one-point loss against Japan, and an 86–95 loss against
South Korea.
Creation of the Philippine Basketball Association In 1975, after disputes with the
Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP), nine teams pulled out of BAP's jurisdiction and founded the professional
Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), taking along all the best players with them. This caused the BAP to send weakened teams in the subsequent international tournaments, as professionals are not allowed to play. The Filipinos fail to defend their Asian championship in 1975, with
India earning a shock blowout win to deny the Philippines a top-4 finish. The Chinese won the championship, beginning their unbeaten championship run that will last into 1983. The nationals were denied of a top 4 finish in the 1977 Asian Championship, losing this time to Malaysia. The Philippines then hosted the
1978 FIBA World Championship, losing all of the games via blowouts to finish last in the final round.
The NCC program (1980–1986) To offset the loss of players of the PBA, the BAP delegated to businessman
Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. the formation of a team that will train together for several months, in essence, a club team unaffiliated with any league. The result was the
Northern Cement basketball team coached by the American
Ron Jacobs that had four naturalized players. In the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, the team finished fourth behind Korea, China and Japan. In the
1983 Asian Championship in Hong Kong, the Philippines forfeited their preliminary round games after a misunderstanding in the rules that caused the Philippines to play more than one naturalized player on the floor at the time. The Philippines, without their naturalized players, made short work of the classification round to finish in ninth place. The Northern Cement team won the
1985 Asian Championship in
Kuala Lumpur, to qualify for the
1986 FIBA World Championship in Spain. On February 22, 1986, the
People Power Revolution erupted and forced president
Ferdinand Marcos into exile. Cojuangco, a known ally of Marcos, also left the country, causing the team not to participate in the World Championship. The team did participate in the 1986 Asian Games, finishing third behind China and Korea.
Professional era In 1989,
FIBA allowed professionals to play in their tournaments. This caused the BAP to have an agreement with the PBA in which the latter will form national teams for the Asian Games, while the former will do so in other tournaments. In the
1989 Southeast Asian Games, the BAP-sponsored team coached by
Derrick Pumaren suffered a shock loss to
Malaysia in the gold medal game, the only time the Philippines failed to win the gold medal at the
Southeast Asian Games in which basketball was played, until 2021 edition when they also settled again in silver medal. In 1990, the Philippines sent an all-pro national team, coached by
Robert Jaworski, to regain the country's basketball supremacy in the
Asian Games but the team lost in the final against
China and settled for a silver medal. The team includes 1990 PBA Most Valuable Player
Allan Caidic and
Samboy Lim, who were both selected in the Asian Games Mythical Five Selections. In the
1991 Asian Championship in
Kobe, Japan, the Philippines finished second in their preliminary round group behind China, but a loss against Japan caused their elimination, ending up in seventh place, when
Jordan forfeited the game. In
1993, the Philippines failed to qualify in the quarterfinal groups, suffering losses against Korea (five points) and the
UAE (four points) en route to an 11th-place finish. In the
1994 Asian Games in
Hiroshima, the Philippines, coached by the American
Norman Black, sent in a team composed of PBA players and selected amateurs. The team finish second in the preliminary round, losing to Korea. The loss to Korea meant that the Philippines has to face China; despite losing, the Chinese had their slimmest winning margin in the tournament with nine points, en route to their gold medal. The Philippines were upended by the hosts Japan in the bronze medal game, losing by three points in overtime. With no PBA players on the roster, the team on the
1995 Asian Championship in
Seoul finished last in the preliminary round, but managed to win two games in the classification round to finish 12th out of 19 teams. The team that went to
Riyadh for the
ABC Championship 1997 did only marginally better; they still finished last in the preliminary round but topped the classification round group en route to a ninth-place finish. In 1998, the PBA formed the
Philippine Centennial Team coached by the American
Tim Cone that captured the 21st William Jones Cup championship but finished with the bronze medal in the
1998 Asian Games held in
Bangkok. The Filipinos faced their old nemesis Korea in the quarterfinals and were blown out by twenty points, which led them to face China in the semifinals anew. The result would be the same as four years earlier, with the Chinese winning by nine. The Filipinos won the bronze medal game though, against
Kazakhstan. In the
1999 Asian Championship in
Fukuoka, Japan, the Philippines, with no PBA players on their roster, finished last in the preliminary round, and second in the classification round to finish 11th out of 15 teams. In Shanghai for the
2001 Asian Championship, the Philippines was suspended by FIBA due to leadership disputes at the BAP. This caused the country to miss their first Asian championship. By 2002, a compromise was sorted out, and the Philippines was allowed to participate in the
2002 Asian Games, coached by
Jong Uichico. In
Busan, South Korea, the Philippines easily qualified for the quarterfinals, in which they are grouped with China, Japan and
Chinese Taipei. The Philippines won by five points against Japan, and 14 points against Chinese Taipei. The game against China wasn't as close, with the Philippines losing by 41 points, but this assured that they won't have to face China in the semifinals. For the third consecutive time, the Filipinos and Koreans faced in the semifinals, with the same result: the Koreans won over the Philippines, this time by one point. Up by two points,
Olsen Racela missed two free throws, that led to a
Lee Sang-min three-pointer at the buzzer to eliminate the Filipinos. The team would lose in the bronze medal game against Kazakhstan by 2 points as Korea defeated China in overtime by a basket to win Asian Games gold for the first time since 1970. With no PBA players in the roster, the
2003 Asian Championship in
Harbin was the worst performance by the team in history: a 15th-place finish out of 16 teams. Unlike in 1997 and 1999, the Philippines had one win in the preliminary round (against Jordan). However, in the classification round, the Philippines emerged winless in a group containing
Syria,
Kuwait and
Hong Kong. Only a blowout win against Malaysia saved the Philippines from dropping to the cellar. After the championship, BAP was heavily criticized and took steps to strengthen the team. However, after a loss against the Parañaque Jets, a team composed of politicians, actors and amateurs, by the BAP-managed team, another leadership crisis in the BAP ensued which caused another suspension from FIBA. As a result, the Philippines was not able to participate in the
2005 FIBA Asia Championship and the
2006 Asian Games.
SBP era (2007–present) Team Pilipinas (2007–2009) After the conclusion of the leadership struggle that saw the
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), an organization backed by the PBA among others, being recognized by both FIBA and the
Philippine Olympic Committee, the Philippines was reinstated by FIBA.
San Miguel-Team Pilipinas was hastily assembled for the
2007 FIBA Asia Championship in
Tokushima. The team defeated China, which didn't send its best team since they already qualified for the
2008 Olympics, but lost to
Iran and
Jordan to bow out of contention. The Filipinos and Chinese met again for the ninth place game in which the Filipinos won by two points. The Philippines qualified for the
2009 FIBA Asia Championship in
Tianjin. The Philippines advanced to the quarterfinals to meet Jordan. The Jordanians raced to an early lead where the Filipinos never recovered to win the game. The Filipinos and the Koreans played for seventh place, which saw the Koreans winning by two points.
Gilas Pilipinas (2010–present) Following the Northern Cement model of the 1980, the SBP established the
Smart Gilas Pilipinas program, backed by SBP President
Manuel V. Pangilinan, as a developmental team that aims to qualify in the
2012 Olympics. In the
2010 Asian Games, the Filipinos met the Korean team anew in the quarterfinals and was eliminated. In the
2011 championship at
Wuhan, the SBP successfully petitioned the naturalization of
Marcus Douthit; the team progressed up to the semifinals for the first time since 1987. Meeting
Jordan, the team lost, never recovering after a third quarter run by the Jordanians. In the bronze medal game against Korea with a berth to an Olympic qualifying tournament at stake, the team raced to an early lead, but the Koreans cut the lead and eventually won the game after the Filipinos missed free-throws at the end game. Despite missing an Olympic berth, Smart Gilas' performance was the best finish in the championship since 1987, and the best finish in any major Asian competition since 2002. After failing to qualify for the Olympics, the SBP decided to form the next edition of Smart Gilas Pilipinas team (Smart Gilas Pilipinas 2.0) composed of PBA players. The Smart Gilas Pilipinas program was renamed Gilas Pilipinas in 2013, still sponsored by
Smart Communications. The national team played in the
2013 FIBA Asia Championship which was hosted at home. After losing to
Chinese Taipei in the last game of the preliminary round to finish second, the team won four consecutive games to set up a semifinal against the Koreans. In a close game, the Philippines pulled away late in the game to win 86–79. The win sent the team to the finals and guaranteed qualification to the
FIBA Basketball World Cup (new name of the FIBA World Championship) for the first time since 1978. The Philippines, appearing in the first FIBA Asia Championship final since the introduction of a championship game in 1987, lost by 14 points against undefeated Iran in the final to settle for a silver medal. . The
Congress of the Philippines naturalized
Andray Blatche in time for the
2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup to beef-up its center position. With Blatche in tow, the Philippines nearly won four tightly fought games against higher ranked teams of Croatia, Greece, Argentina and Puerto Rico, before winning in overtime against Senegal to record its first victory at the World Cup in 40 years. In the
2014 Asian Games, Blatche was not able to join the squad due to residency requirements by the Olympic Council of Asia and Douthit suit up as the national team's naturalized player instead. The Philippines finished seventh, its worst finish in the Asian Games. On October 30, 2014, the SBP announced the formation of two selection committees to search and appoint the coach and players of future Philippine teams – for elite level and for youth level tournaments. Chot Reyes remained coach until a replacement was decided. The new roster aims to compete in the
2015 FIBA Asia Championship in
China which will serve as the Asian qualifiers of the
2016 Summer Olympics Basketball tournament in
Rio de Janeiro. On December 23, 2014,
Tab Baldwin was formally announced as the new coach of the Philippine national team. Baldwin's four-year tenure as coach officially began on January 1, 2015. The team captured the silver medal in the
2015 William Jones Cup but fell short of the gold medal in the
2015 FIBA Asia Championship. However, the Philippines qualified for the
2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament but the team failed in their bid to Rio Olympics losing to France and New Zealand. The team won gold during
2016 SEABA Cup and a qualifying slot in the
2016 FIBA Asia Challenge. However, as they were represented by the Gilas Cadets with no professional or naturalize players, the team suffered its worst performance placing 9th over-all, a very huge setback due to conflicting schedule with the
national league and mismanagement of the SBP. In October 2016, Chot Reyes returned as head coach. In 2017, the Philippines hosted the
2017 SEABA Championship and the team swept the competition for the gold medal and the lone spot in the sub-zone for the
2017 FIBA Asia Cup. During the
2017 FIBA Asia Cup, the national team would sweep the group stage consisting of teams from China, Iraq and Qatar. The team failed to advance in the quarterfinals however and finished the tournament in seventh place. The Philippines defended their gold medal for the 12th straight time in the
2017 South East Asian Games beating Indonesia in the finals. FIBA introduced a qualification process which does not involve the continental tournaments for the
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The Philippines' qualification bid was marred by a
brawl during the team's July 2018 tie against
Australia in the
first round of the Asian qualifiers. The incident caused suspensions for some of the players and coaches as well as a fine for SBP. Chot Reyes, who served suspension due to his involvement in the brawl was also replaced by Yeng Guiao. That game and incident started a slump in the standings that almost eliminated the Philippines from the World Cup, but under Guiao they managed to qualify in the last matchday by beating
Kazakhstan, combined with a
Lebanon loss to
South Korea. The
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup saw the Philippines with a 0–5 record, the country's worst performance since the 1978 edition, losing four of its five games in a blowout. This was due to lack of preparations and key players begging off from the team, as well as injuries. Due to the disappointing results, the SBP sent an all-professional team for the
2019 South East Asia Games to re-establish its dominance. The national team swept the competition for their 18th Gold Medal in the tournament. The
2022 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers saw the country win all of its six games, including two victories over South Korea. The team also played at one of the
2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in
Belgrade,
Serbia. In the
2022 FIBA Asia Cup, the team finished third in its group, being defeated by Lebanon and New Zealand. The team was then eliminated in the first round by Japan, finishing the tournament in ninth place. The country co-hosted the
2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup with Japan and Indonesia. Despite being automatically qualified as co-hosts, the Philippines still took part in the tournament's
Asian Qualifiers by virtue of qualifying for the Asia Cup. In the World Cup, the country had a 1–4 record, with their win coming against China—their first tournament win on home soil as they were not able to win a game during their last hosting in
1978. In the
2022 Asian Games, the Philippines clinched its first gold medal since the
1962 edition, after defeating Iran and China by a single point each in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, and beating Jordan in the final. Historic wins for the national team continued under head coach Tim Cone at the
2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament as the Philippines stunned the world's sixth-ranked
Latvia to take their first win in an Olympic qualifier since
1964 and their first win against a European country in any FIBA competition since the
1960 Summer Olympics. This win extended the Philippines' international winning streak to seven games, excluding friendly matches. ==FIBA suspensions==