History
In 1998, the Metropolitan Basketball Association was formed as a regional-based professional league which also challenged the commercial Philippine Basketball Association. The Lakers were paraded by former University of Manila stars Biboy Simon and Jovy Sese, Manuel Luis Quezon University standout Wynne Arboleda and the high-flying Mike Garcia, known for wearing different shoe colors and his dunks.
The Lakers went 14–8 in the inaugural year but failed to enter the Northern Conference Finals. Simon recorded an MBA record 54 points in one game, which remained until the league's closure. In 1999, the Lakers went 16–14 in the elimination round and made the playoffs for the second straight year. The team added fil-Americans Cris Clay and Rudy Hatfield to bolster their lineup. However, Laguna was eliminated by the Pampanga Dragons, in a hard-fought three-game Wildcard series which saw Dragons point guard Roel Bravo hitting a three-pointer to give Pampanga the win.
In 2000, Laguna made its only MBA finals appearance in the Crossover Conference tournament, losing to the San Juan Knights in the finals. The Lakers made it to the National Playoffs, only to be eliminated by the same Knights team, 2–0. Jeff Flowers joined the team to power the Lakers frontline.
Laguna was renamed as the FedEx-Laguna Lakers for the 2001 season but lost to San Juan in the playoffs for the third-straight time.
Read more about this topic: Laguna Lakers
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