The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) presents eleven annual awards to recognize its teams, players, and coaches for their accomplishments. This does not include the three team trophies the league gives out to division champions and league champions as well as the All-MPBL Teams.

The MPBL holds an awarding ceremony during the national finals of every season since 2019. This is where most of the awards are given out with the exclusion of the Finals MVP and Coach of the Year, which are presented at the conclusion of the finals.

History

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The MPBL has been presenting awards in every season since the league's establishment, but in the beginning there was only one, that being the Finals Most Valuable Player, first given out after the 2018 MPBL finals.

The 2018–19 season introduced a multitude of awards, with the first being the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, first presented the inaugural All-Star Game.[1] This is then followed by the Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Executive of the Year, and sportsmanship awards, which were all presented during the 2019 MPBL finals.[2] At the conclusion of the series, it also introduced the Coach of the Year.

During the 2022 season, the league presented its first Rookie of the Year and Homegrown Player of the Year awards,[3] while the Most Improved Player and Impact Player of the Year awards were introduced during the succeeding 2023 season.[4]

Individual awards

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Award First awarded Description Most recent winner Ref.
Most Valuable Player 2019 Awarded to the best performing player of the regular season. Justine Baltazar (Pampanga Giant Lanterns) [4]
All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 2019 Awarded to the best performing player of the MPBL All-Star Game. Will McAloney (Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards) [5]
Finals Most Valuable Player 2018 Awarded to the best performing player of the National Finals. Justine Baltazar (Pampanga Giant Lanterns) [6]
Defensive Player of the Year 2019 Awarded to the player with the best defensive performance during the regular season. Jason Ballesteros (Pasig City MCW Sports) [4]
Rookie of the Year 2022 Awarded to best performing first-year player of the regular season. Adrian Nocum (San Juan Knights) [4]
Homegrown Player of the Year 2022 Awarded to the player with the best performance of the regular season while playing for his hometown team. Cris Masaglang (GenSan Warriors) [4]
Most Improved Player 2023 Awarded to the player who has shown the biggest improvement from the previous season. Jhan Nermal (Bacoor City Strikers) [4]
Impact Player of the Year 2023 Awarded to the player who "draws large crowds" during the regular season. Poypoy Actub (Imus SV Squad) [4]
Sportsmanship award 2019 Awarded to the player who has shown sportsmanlike behavior throughout the season. Jay-R Taganas (Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards) [4]
Coach of the Year 2019 Awarded to the coach of the winning team of the National Finals. Dennis Pineda (Pampanga Giant Lanterns) [6]
Executive of the Year 2019 Awarded to the league's top executive; named after Lucio Tan Jr. Manuel Carlos Ilagan Jr. (Bataan Risers) [4]

References

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  1. ^ "South tops North as Viernes, Anderson shine in MPBL All-Stars". Rappler. March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  2. ^ "Gab Banal beats out Mark Yee for MPBL Datu Cup MVP award". Spin.ph. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Times, Tiebreaker (December 5, 2022). "Kyt Jimenez hailed MPBL's top rookie, Jaycee Marcelino leads Mythical Five". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Justine Baltazar runaway MVP, Pampanga closes in on MPBL title". RAPPLER. November 29, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  5. ^ "North bests South in MPBL All-Stars; Pacquiao shines". Tempo. September 8, 2024. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Pampanga sweeps Bacoor to win MPBL title on the road". Philippine Star. December 2, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.