Johnny Abarrientos

Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). 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. He is known by many as the Flying A when he started playing for the Alaska Milkmen in 1993. He is currently an assistant coach for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and for the FEU Tamaraws.

In college, Abarrientos played for FEU. He won Rookie of the Year in 1989 then led FEU to back-to-back titles in 1991 (as the league MVP) and in 1992. He then continued his amateur career in the semi-professional Philippine Basketball League, where he won four titles and three MVPs.

Abarrientos was then selected third overall in the 1993 PBA Draft by Alaska. He helped Alaska win nine championships, including a grand slam in 1996. He then won one title with the Pop Cola Panthers in 2002 and two titles with Ginebra in 2003 and 2007. He retired as the PBA's all-time leader in steals and has his #14 jersey retired by Alaska.

Early life Abarrientos was born the seventh of nine children and one of five boys. He would watch his older brothers (who were all point guards) play basketball in small commercial leagues as their water boy. Inspired by them, he started playing basketball as well, and led his high school, NCBA, to a league championship.

Abarrientos then successfully tried out for the FEU Baby Tamaraws. When it was time to consider colleges, he considered transferring to Ateneo as it was his dream school. He decided against it as it would be too risky. However, he almost quit schooling as his family could not afford to pay for his studies until FEU gave him a scholarship. Still, his father, Johnny Sr., did not want him to play basketball. During his first year with FEU, he hid the fact that he was playing for FEU from his father. As he became more popular and the team became successful, he could no longer hide it from his father. He eventually confessed to him and offered him a ticket to watch him play in the finals. The whole family came to watch him in the finals. His #14 jersey was retired years later by FEU on July 6, 2011.

Abarrientos also played in the semi-professional Philippine Basketball League for the Crispa Redmanizers and Triple-V while still with FEU before jumping ship to the PBA.

Professional career

Alaska Aces (1993–2001) The Alaska Milkmen selected Abarrientos third overall in the 1993 PBA Draft. Coach Tim Cone was convinced that he would be the future of their point guard position. Alaska then dropped Frankie Lim, a key member of its first champion team, to make room for Abarrientos. He showed impressive performances in his rookie season. He was named as the Most Valuable Player during the same season, averaging 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.4 steals and becoming the first guard to win the award.

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. However, talks stalled out after Bettancourt sold his shares in his agency with Charlotte and Abarrientos was never called back. In 1997, Abarrientos averaged a career high 16.7 points and a league-leading 8.6 assists per game. He also won the Best Player of the Conference award in the Commissioner's Cup.

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.

Pop Cola Panthers (2001)

Abarrientos was tasked with improving Pop Cola's play, which had put them at the bottom of the league standings in previous seasons. He 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. For the season, he averaged 9.6 points in 44 games for Pop Cola. He later returned to lead Coca-Cola to a third-place finish in the Governor's Cup. In the All-Filipino, he led his team to the finals against Alaska. After he scored 20 points in the first half of Game 1, he left the game with a double facial fracture and was sidelined for the rest of the series. The Tigers went on to win the crown 3–1 over his former team. He then went underwent successful surgery, but required months of therapy and almost made him consider retiring.

In 2003, Abarrientos and his team led the Tigers to the 2003 Reinforced Conference title. By the 2004–05 season, injuries and decline had hampered Abarrientos and he saw his minutes diminished. In the 2005–06 season, Abarrientos shared point guard duties with fellow FEU alumni Dennis Miranda, a rookie, and Dale Singson.

Barangay Ginebra Kings (2006–2010)

Two weeks before the start of the PBA season, the Coca-Cola Tigers released Abarrientos.

Season-by-season averages

Retirement and coaching career

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 contributions to the team including his 1996 Grand Slam conquest and his MVP award during that same year.

In 2011, for the 37th season of the PBA, Abarrientos joined the B-Meg Llamados as an assistant coach, together with former teammate Jeffrey Cariaso, to help their former coach Tim Cone install his triangle offense in the B-Meg squad. They won four titles together, including a grand slam. When Cone left for Ginebra, he stayed with the team.

In the middle of a March 2023 game against the Converge FiberXers, Abarrientos gestured with a middle finger at the opponent's African-American import Jamaal Franklin. Abarrientos was later criticized by many fans for racism and the league fined him ₱10,000.

In 2025, after 14 years with the B-Meg / Purefoods / Magnolia franchise, Abarrientos joined the coaching staff of Ginebra, still led by Cone. At Ginebra, he got the opportunity to coach his nephew, RJ.

Since 2011, Abarrientos has been an assistant coach at his alma mater, FEU.

Personal life Abarrientos is married and they have three children together. Johnny's uncle, Virgilio "Haba-Haba" Abarrientos, was also a PBA player.

While he was playing, Abarrientos bred fighting cocks as a side business. He also owned a farm.

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)