Basketball in the Philippines

[1] Basketball was first introduced to the Philippine public school system by the Americans as a women's sport in 1910 and was played in Interscholastic meets in 1911 until 1913.

By the time skirts were allowed to be worn above bloomers as a compromise, women's basketball was already in decline and was only played in provincial and local interscholastic meets.

The Philippine team won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 1951, the first-time basketball was played.

In the 1960s, the first FIBA Asia Championship was won by the Philippines with Carlos Badion as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Meanwhile, the Philippines won the right to host the third FIBA World Championship, but were suspended after then-President Diosdado Macapagal, father of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, refused to issue visas to players from communist countries (notably basketball powerhouse Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union).

The Philippines' dominance in sport waned after Carlos Loyzaga's retirement, and had performed poorly in the Olympic games where the national team was unable to break into top-10 positions.

In 1978, the Philippines hosted the FIBA World Championship, marking the first time that the international tournament was held in Asia.

In 2007, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas became the newly recognized national basketball body for the Philippines by FIBA.

Heading into the 2020s, numerous Filipino basketball players play overseas in different leagues, with examples being Thirdy and Kiefer Ravena and others in the Japanese B.

Players like Carl Tamayo, JD Cagulangan and Kevin Quiambao have also since played in the Korean Basketball League.