The 1996 season of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL). Notable achievements First Conference champion Hapee Toothpaste represent the Philippine team in the ABC Champions Cup slated June 2–9 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. The Philippines-Hapee, coached by Junel Baculi and reinforced by ex-PBA imports Tony Harris and Bobby Parks, along with Hapee mainstays Joel Dualan, Erwin Framo, Oscar Simon, Ramon Pido and borrowed players from Red Bull, Danny Ildefonso and Henry Fernandez, won the title by defeating Isuzu lynx of Japan, 77-74, in the finale. Agfa Colors, which won the All-Filipino Cup, represent the country to the Jones Cup in Taipei and place 6th in the tournament. Participating teams Hapee Toothpaste (became known as Dazz Dishwashing Paste starting the Danny Floro Cup) Stag Pale Pilseners Chowking Fastfood Kings Oriental Battery (known as Super Power Battery starting the All-Filipino Cup) Red Bull Energy Drink (switch back to Agfa, known as Agfa HDC Film starting the All-Filipino Cup) Casino Rubbing Alcohol (played only in the Reinforced Conference) Carol Ann's Food Delights (played only in the Reinforced Conference) Burger Machine (left the league before the Danny Floro Cup) Welcoat Paints (new team starting the All-Filipino Cup) AMA Cybertigers (new team in the Danny Floro Cup) Springmaid Flak Eliminators (new team in the Danny Floro Cup) Reinforced Conference The respective teams' imports are Ma Jian of Hapee Toothpaste, Lucious Jackson of Burger Machine, Fred Vinsons of Carol Ann's, Claude Moore of Casino Rubbing Alcohol, David Vanterpool of Chowking Fastfood, Steve Worthy of defending champion Stag Pale Pilsen, who was replaced by Robert Phelps, Kevin Ardister of Red Bull, replaced by Jerry Stroman, and for Oriental Battery, Darnell Sneed, replaced by Eric Jones, who in turn, was replaced by former PBA import and Ginebra reinforcement Alexander Coles. Hapee Toothpaste and Stag Pale Pilsen went on to play in the best-of-five championship series after the one round, six-team semifinals. Finals series The Cavity Fighters ended a three-year wait for the title and claim their first-ever PBL crown, defeating the defending champion Stag Pale Pilseners, which won the Grandslam earlier in the year in a cinderella fashion, in four games. Chinese import Ma Jian led Hapee with 22 points and 8 rebounds as the Cavity Fighters gained the right to represent the country minus the 6-7 Ma Jian in the upcoming Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Champions Cup. All-Filipino Cup Newcomer Welcoat Paints debut with an upset 79-70