The 1999 PBA All-Filipino Cup or known as the 1999 McDonald's-PBA All-Filipino Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the First Conference of the 1999 PBA season. It started on February 7 and ended on June 6, 1999. The tournament is an All-Filipino format, which doesn't require an import or a pure-foreign player for each team.
Format
The following format will be observed for the duration of the conference:
Two-round eliminations; 16 games per team. 8 teams will advance to the Quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals: top 4 seeded teams will have twice-to-beat advantage
With a 7–0 start, Mobiline had a losing run to finish the elimination round. Being the #1 seed, they faced the ragtag Barangay Ginebra Kings with a twice to beat advantage.
The Kings managed to keep in step with the Phone Pals throughout the game; with Mobiline leading by one point in the closing seconds, Bal David converted a jump-shot as time expired that caused jubilation at the mostly pro-Ginebra crowd. Asi Taulava broke down and slumped to the bench right after David's game-clinching jumper and booked a flight to the United States the day after the game.[1]
Barangay Ginebra would come up short in their playoffs run as the Zoom Masters swept them in their semifinals series, 3–0. Game 2 had a free-for all bench-clearing brawl that saw punches being thrown; Shell player Jay Mendoza instigated the fight when he elbowed Ginebra's Wilmer Ong. A total of ₱235,000 worth of fines were issued by PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino, the second-greatest amount since the 1990 Finals played ironically, by Shell and Ginebra where Ginebra walked out to hand Shell the championship trophy.[2]