The2012–13 PBA season was the 38th season of thePhilippine Basketball Association. The season formally opened on September 30, 2012, and finished October 25, 2013. This was the longest in PBA history with 13-month span. The season continued to use the three-conference format, starting with thePhilippine Cup, or the traditional All-Filipino Conference. The mid seasonCommissioner's Cup will continue to feature unlimited height limit for imports. The last conference of the season, theGovernors' Cup will have imports with a 6'5" height limit.
Provincial venues of the PBA that hosted one game day (red), and two or more game days (blue).
Like severalMetro Manila-centric leagues, most games are held at arenas withinMetro Manila, and sometimes,Antipolo. Games outside this area are called "out-of-town" games, and are usually played on Saturdays. Provincial arenas usually host one game, rarely two; these arenas typically host only once per season, but could return occasionally.
Mikee Romero of Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. is expected to file for an application for a PBA franchise and will debut this season. The new team will carry the name "GlobalPort", one of Romero's business entities.[4][5]
Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc., owner of thePowerade Tigers sent a letter to the PBA Commissioner's Office informing that the franchise will be sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc., owned by businessman Mikee Romero forPHP 100 million, with additionalPHP 10 million for franchise application fee payable to the PBA. Under league rules, the sale will need to get an approval of two-thirds vote by the board of governors to push through.[6][7][8] The Board of Governors unanimously approved the purchase on a special board meeting on August 17. The team is now known as theGlobalPort Batang Pier.[9][10]
The post eliminations format for this season'sGovernors' Cup will be changed. Instead of the round robin format that was used for the last two seasons, the conference will adapt a quarterfinal-semifinals playoff format.[11]
Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. announced that they will rechristen the Barangay Ginebra Kings as theBarangay Ginebra San Miguel. The team will adopt a logo with similarities to the Ginebra San Miguel logo used from 1985 to 1988.[12]
Energy Food & Drinks, Inc., owners of the Barako Bull Energy franchise announced that they will rename their team as theBarako Bull Energy Cola starting this season.[14]
TheMeralco Bolts will wear their retro 1971MICAA Meralco Reddy Kilowatts uniform for this season.[15]
After the approval of the sale of the Powerade franchise to GlobalPort, coachBo Perasol requested to be released from his live contract.[17]Glenn Capacio has been appointed as interim coach for GlobalPort.[18]
To accommodate the training of thePhilippines men's national basketball team for the upcomingFIBA Asia Championship, the league's board of governors decided to move the season-ending Governors' Cup until August. The Commissioner's Cup will be extended until the last week of May and will adapt the tournament format of the Philippine Cup, with a shorter playoff series for the semifinal and final round. The changes in the league calendar was formally approved on February 7, during the board of governors' special meeting.[29][30]
The format of the upcomingAll-Star Game will be modified to feature thePhilippines men's national basketball team. Instead of last year's Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors (RSJ) vs. Veterans format, the national team will go up against a selection of PBA players, a similar format used during the2009 edition of the all-star game.[31]
On March 8, 2013, in a game against theAlaska Aces for a battle to earn the top spot,Renaldo Balkman of thePetron Blaze Boosters had a major outburst when he claimed he was fouled after shooting an air ball inside the paint. Balkman argued with the referees, but when his argument was ignored, he shoved referees and pushed coaches and teammates that tried to calm him. After physically confronting the first referee, assistant coach Biboy Ravanes tried to calm him down but Balkman shoved Ravanes out of the way. After this, he moved to the second referee and again argued and initiated contact. At this point,Ronald Tubid, a teammate of Balkman, tried to get between him and the second referee. Balkman then moved to the third official, while being shadowed by Tubid, until he shoved Tubid out of the way. This is when another teammate,Arwind Santos, tried to intervene by putting himself between the third referee and Balkman. However, Balkman continued with his aggressive behavior, slapping Santos' arm and eventually shoving him. When Santos pushed him back, Balkman pushed him once again and then grabbed Santos' neck as their teammates tried to separate them. Balkman later apologized via hisTwitter account. He said he apologized to his teammates, Santos and Santos' family as well as the team's management, and added, "Everybody does something once in a life, they’re not supposed to do. At the time I blanked out and went at it. [...] It's my first time ever in my entire life to do that."[32] On March 11, 2013, Balkman was banned for life from the PBA. He was also fined for P250,000 or $6,150.[33][34]
Ato Agustin was appointed as interim head coach ofBarangay Ginebra San Miguel afterAlfrancis Chua resigned from his post. He was later assigned as team manager, taking over Robert Non, who also serves as the board governor of the team.
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