Pop Cola Panthers Abarrientos put on a decent performance in his only season with the Panthers in 2001. With Rudy 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 the San Miguel Corporation and was renamed as the Coca-Cola Tigers. Coca-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 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, rookie Dennis Miranda and Dale Singson. Barangay Ginebra Kings Two weeks before the start of the PBA season, the Coca-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 Player Jayjay Helterbrand, as his court generalship gave additional factor in the Kings' line-up. The Flying A made a memorable moment when he surpassed Ramon Fernandez as the all-time leader in steals on February 5, 2007 as Ginebra defeated the Talk '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, when Celino