Johnny Abarrientos

Johnny Abarrientos

Magnolia Hotshots
Position	Assistant coach
League	PBA
Personal information
Born	(1970-07-17) July 17, 1970 (age 54) Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Listed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight	161 lb (73 kg)
Career information
College	FEU
PBA draft	1993: 1st round, 3rd overall pick
Selected by the Alaska Milkmen
Playing career	1993–2010
Position	Point guard
Coaching career	2007–present
Career history
As player:
1993–2001	Alaska Aces
2001	Pop Cola Panthers
2002–2006	Coca-Cola Tigers
2006–2010	Barangay Ginebra Kings
As coach:
2007–2011	Barangay Ginebra Kings (assistant)
2011–present	Far Eastern University (assistant)
2011–present	Magnolia Hotshots (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player: 12x PBA champion (1994 Governors', 1995 Governors', 1996 All-Filipino, 1996 Commissioner's, 1996 Governors', 1997 Governors', 1998 All-Filipino, 1998 Commissioner's, 2000 All-Filipino, 2002 All-Filipino, 2003 Reinforced, 2007 Philippine) PBA Most Valuable Player (1996) PBA Best Player of the Conference (1997 Commissioner's) 2x PBA Finals Most Valuable Player (1996 Governors', 1997 Governors') 6x PBA Mythical First Team (1994-1999) PBA Mythical Second Team (2003) 7× PBA All-Star (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) 5x PBA All-Defensive Team (1994, 1996-1997, 1999, 2005) PBA Two-Ball Competition Co-Champion (w/ Kenneth Duremdes; 1999) PBA Grand Slam champion (1996) PBA's 25 Greatest Players PBA's 40 Greatest Players PBA All-time leader in career steals 2× UAAP champion (1991, 1992) UAAP Most Valuable Player (1991) UAAP Rookie of the Year (1989) 4× PBL champion (1990 Challenge, 1991 Maharlika, 1992 Philippine, 1992 Invitational) 3× PBL MVP (1990 Challenge, 1991 Challenge, 1992 Invitational) No. 14 retired by the Alaska Aces No. 14 retired by the FEU Tamaraws As assistant coach 6x PBA champion coach (2012 Commissioner's, 2013 Governors', 2014 Philippine, 2014 Commissioner's, 2014 Governors', 2018 Governors') UAAP champions (2015)
Medals Men's basketball Representing   Philippines Asian Games 1998 Bangkok Team competition

Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine 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 as The Flying A when he started playing for the Alaska Milkmen in 1993. ^[2] He is currently an assistant coach for the Magnolia Hotshots and for the FEU Tamaraws. ^[3]

Amateur career

Abarrientos began his basketball career in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines for the Far Eastern University Tamaraws alongside future pro Victor Pablo and led the Tamaraws to two UAAP crowns in 1991 and 1992. His jersey #14 was retired by FEU on July 6, 2011.

He also played in the Philippine Basketball League for the Crispa Redmanizers and Triple-V before jumping ship to the PBA.

Professional career

Alaska Aces

Alaska selected Abarrientos 3rd overall in the 1993 PBA Draft and showed impressive performances in his rookie season. In his second season, he was included in the RP National team bound for the 1994 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, when Charlotte 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 the Philippine Centennial Team, coached by his Alaska mentor Tim Cone. With him, Alvin Patrimonio and fellow Alaska teammates Kenneth Duremdes, Bong Hawkins and Jojo Lastimosa, the Nationals took home the bronze medal in the Bangkok Asian Games.

Two years later, Abarrientos was named in the PBA'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 and Poch Juinio were swapped to the Pop Cola Panthers for Ali Peek and Jon Ordonio.

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 ^[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, 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 Cruz, Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa got injured, Head Coach Jong Uichico brought back Abarientos to the active roster as point guard.

PBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	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

^[5]

Season-by-season averages

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

Major accomplishments

• UAAP Champion
• 1996 PBA MVP
• 12-Time PBA Champion
• Three-Time Member of the RP National Team
• PBA All Time Leaders in Steals (1,302)

Retirement and coaching

After Abarrientos was elevated as assistant coach of the Barangay 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 the San 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 the B-Meg Llamados as assistant coach, together with former teammate Jeffrey Cariaso, to help their former coach Tim Cone install his vaunted triangle offense in the talent-laden B-Meg squad. ^[8]

Controversy

In the middle of a March 2023 game against Converge, Abarrientos gestured rudely at the opponent's import named Jamaal Franklin. Abarrientos was later criticized by many fans and the league fined him Php10,000. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

References

1. Johnny Abarrientos Player Profile
2. PBA - Johnny Abarrientos - "The Flying A"
3. Cone officially joins B-MEG, brings Abarrientos and Cariaso Archived October 16, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
4. Asia Basket
5. "Johnny Abarrientos Player Profile - PBA-Online.net". PBA-Online.net. Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
6. Aces honored in Alaska grand rites
7. Forgive and forget: Abarrientos wants to move forward
8. Cone officially joins B-MEG, brings Abarrientos and Cariaso Archived October 16, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
9. Dioquino, Delfin (January 30, 2023). "Johnny Abarrientos fined P10,000 for flipping off Converge import". RAPPLER. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
10. Bacnis, Justine (January 30, 2023). "PBA slaps 10k fine on Johnny Abarrientos". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
11. "Johnny Abarrientos faces fine for dirty finger at Converge import". Spin.ph. Retrieved March 14, 2024.

External links

• Media related to Johnny Abarrientos at Wikimedia Commons
• Johnny Abarrientos Player Profile