Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professionalbasketball player in thePhilippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was also a many-time member of thePhilippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, becoming the shortest player to win the league's highest individual award.[1] He is known by many asThe Flying A when he started playing for theAlaska Milkmen in 1993.[2] He is currently an assistant coach for theBarangay Ginebra San Miguel and for theFEU Tamaraws.[3]
Abarrientos began his basketball career in theUniversity Athletic Association of the Philippines for theFar Eastern UniversityTamaraws alongside future proVictor Pablo and led the Tamaraws to two UAAP crowns in 1991 and 1992. His jersey #14 was retired byFEU on July 6, 2011.
He also played in thePhilippine Basketball League for theCrispa Redmanizers and Triple-V before jumping ship to the PBA.
Alaska selected Abarrientos 3rd overall in the1993 PBA Draft and showed impressive performances in his rookie season. In his second season, he was included in the RP National team bound for the1994 Asian Games held in Hiroshima, Japan.
From 1994 to 1998, Abarrientos led Alaska to eight PBA titles, including the grand slam winning 1996 season. He was named as the Most Valuable Player during the same season and the Best Player of the Conference in the Commissioner's Cup.
In 1997, talks of Abarrientos' potential participation in the NBA came, whenCharlotte Hornets scout Joe Bettancourt offered Abarrientos a contract to participate in the Hornets' pre-season camp. Abarrientos, though, declined the offer to concentrate on his pro career in the PBA. In 1997 Abarrientos average a career high 16.7 Points and a league leading 8.6 assists per game.
In 1998, Abarrientos was included in thePhilippine Centennial Team, coached by his Alaska mentorTim Cone. With him,Alvin Patrimonio and fellow Alaska teammatesKenneth Duremdes,Bong Hawkins andJojo Lastimosa, the Nationals took home the bronze medal in the Bangkok Asian Games.
Two years later, Abarrientos was named in thePBA's 25 Greatest Players of All-Time as part of the league's anniversary on April 9, 2000. During the same year, Abarrientos' career started to diminish despite the Aces winning the All-Filipino crown. After the season, Abarrientos andPoch Juinio were swapped to thePop Cola Panthers forAli Peek and Jon Ordonio.
Abarrientos put on a decent performance in his only season with the Panthers in 2001. WithRudy Hatfield and former Alaska teammates Lastimosa and Juinio around, they led Pop Cola to a third-place finish in the All-Filipino Cup. After the year, Pop Cola was bought by theSan Miguel Corporation and was renamed as theCoca-Cola Tigers.
Prior to joining the Tigers in 2002, Abarrientos was part of the RP Training Pool for the Busan Asian Games but was later cut. He returned later to lead Coca-Cola[4] to a third-place finish in the Governor's Cup. In the All-Filipino, Abarrientos led his team to the finals against Alaska. After he scored 20 points in the first half of Game 1, Abarrientos left the game with an injury and was sidelined for the rest of the series. The Tigers went on to win the crown 3–1 over his former team.
In 2003, Abarrientos and his team led the Tigers to the 2003 Reinforced Conference title. By the 2004–2005 season, injuries and decline have hampered Abarrientos and saw his minutes diminished. In the 2005–2006 season, Abarrientos shared point guard duties with fellow FEU alumni, rookieDennis Miranda andDale Singson.
Two weeks before the start of the PBA season, theCoca-Cola Tigers released Abarrientos. Rumors persisted that his former team Alaska and Ginebra were interested in acquiring him. Five days after his release, Abarrientos was signed by Coke's sister team Ginebra to a contract for the 2006–07 season after none of the non-SMC teams showed interest in signing the former 1996 MVP.
He played reserve role to lead point guard and 2009 Most Valuable PlayerJayjay Helterbrand, as his court generalship gave additional factor in the Kings' line-up. The Flying A made a memorable moment when he surpassedRamon Fernandez as the all-time leader in steals on February 5, 2007, as Ginebra defeated theTalk 'N Text Phone Pals and won their semis matchup, 4–2. Ginebra would go on to win the 2006-07 Philippine Cup against San Miguel, 4–2, with Abarrientos hitting a three-pointer in a crucial stretch of the final game.
Afterwards, Abarrientos went into semi-retirement, serving in the coaching staff of Ginebra. Before the 2009-2010 PBA season started, he announced his retirement, ending his very successful 16 years in the PBA. But, during the KFC Philippine Cup 2009-10 of the PBA, whenCelino Cruz,Jayjay Helterbrand andMark Caguioa got injured, Head Coach Jong Uichico brought back Abarientos to the active roster as point guard.
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | MPG | Minutes per game | ||
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Alaska | 52 | 35.9 | .489 | .304 | .801 | 4.8 | 6.6 | 2.7 | .0 | 16.1 |
| 1994 | Alaska | 68 | 37.2 | .458 | .329 | .843 | 4.3 | 6.1 | 1.8 | .1 | 15.8 |
| 1995 | Alaska | 74 | 38.0 | .453 | .295 | .878 | 4.1 | 5.6 | 1.8 | .1 | 16.0 |
| 1996 | Alaska | 71 | 37.7 | .437 | .230 | .864 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 1.4 | .2 | 14.6 |
| 1997 | Alaska | 60 | 40.1 | .508 | .333 | .879 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 2.2 | .0 | 16.7 |
| 1998 | Alaska | 49 | 38.6 | .457 | .315 | .922 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.1 | .0 | 13.1 |
| 1999 | Alaska | 53 | 38.1 | .429 | .312 | .860 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 1.9 | .1 | 12.8 |
| 2000 | Alaska | 43 | 35.0 | .381 | .233 | .785 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 1.8 | .1 | 7.9 |
| 2001 | Pop Cola | 44 | 33.2 | .357 | .248 | .859 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 1.7 | .0 | 9.6 |
| 2002 | Coca-Cola | 31 | 24.4 | .396 | .367 | .774 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 | .1 | 8.1 |
| 2003 | Coca-Cola | 51 | 26.0 | .371 | .292 | .746 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 1.7 | .1 | 7.4 |
| 2004–05 | Coca-Cola | 65 | 30.0 | .346 | .312 | .824 | 3.9 | 6.3 | 2.5 | .0 | 7.5 |
| 2005–06 | Coca-Cola | 31 | 19.4 | .370 | .342 | .684 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 1.0 | .0 | 6.5 |
| 2006–07 | Barangay Ginebra | 43 | 19.6 | .360 | .327 | .878 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 1.4 | .0 | 5.3 |
| 2007–08 | Barangay Ginebra | 5 | 6.6 | .273 | .250 | — | .2 | 1.0 | .2 | .0 | 1.6 |
| 2008–09 | Barangay Ginebra | 1 | 13.0 | .750 | .500 | 1.000 | .0 | 2.0 | .0 | .0 | 8.0 |
| 2009–10 | Barangay Ginebra | 14 | 16.6 | .383 | .190 | .833 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 1.2 | .0 | 3.9 |
| Career | 742 | 33.0 | .429 | .303 | .850 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 1.8 | .1 | 11.6 | |
After Abarrientos was elevated as assistant coach of theBarangay Ginebra Kings, he was invited by Alaska management for the Alaska 25th Anniversary Reunion as a result of their triumphant title conquest in the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference against theSan Miguel Beermen. In that occasion, Alaska management decided to retire his #14 jersey because of his valuable contributions to the team including his 1996 Grand Slam conquest and his MVP award during that same year.[6][7]
The 1996 PBA MVP had spent the last few years as part of the coaching staff of Ginebra. For the 37th season of the PBA, Abarrientos joins theB-Meg Llamados as assistant coach, together with former teammateJeffrey Cariaso, to help their former coachTim Cone install his vaunted triangle offense in the talent-laden B-Meg squad.[8]
In the middle of a March 2023 game against theConverge FiberXers, Abarrientos gestured with a middle finger at the opponent's African-American import named Jamaal Franklin. Abarrientos was later criticized by many fans for racism and the league fined him ₱10,000.[9][10][11]
Media related toJohnny Abarrientos at Wikimedia CommonsLinks to related articles | |||||||||
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