Season Format

From 1975-2003, a season was usually composed of three conferences (tournaments). From the 1993 season, the conferences were named All Filipino, Commissioner's and Governors Cups, usually ending in a best-of-7 Finals series match wherein the winner takes the Conference Cup. If the same team wins all of the conferences, the team is said to be the "Grand Slam" champion. A draft was held on January.

In 2004, then-commissioner Noli Eala introduced drastic changes to the season calendar. He reduced the number of conferences from three to two and changed the start of the season from February to October, so that the league can accommodate international tournaments that were frequently held from June to September. Another reason for the change in schedule was the popularity of college hoops, the NCAA and the UAAP, whose basketball season runs from June to October each year.

The first tournament is the Philippine Cup, which is held from October to February the following year, where only locals are allowed to play. The second tournament is the Fiesta Conference, held from March to June, teams are allowed to field one foreign player called an "import". The Philippine Cup is identical to the All-Filipino Conference of the previous seasons. The rookie draft is now usually held every August.