2019–20 MPBL season
The 2019–20 MPBL season, also known as the MPBL Lakan Season or the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season for sponsorship reasons, was the third season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. It was also the last season of the league's semi-professional era, as they would turn professional in December 2021. The regular season began June 12, 2019 and ended on February 12, 2020. The playoffs then began on February 15, 2020, and ended on March 21, 2021 when the Davao Occidental Tigers defeated the defending champion San Juan Knights in four games in the 2021 MPBL Finals.
| 2019–20 MPBL season | |
|---|---|
| League | Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | Regular season: June 12, 2019 – February 12, 2020 Playoffs: February 15 – March 11, 2020 (before suspension) March 10–16, 2021 (resumption) Finals: March 17–21, 2021 |
| Number of games | 464 (regular season) 35 (playoffs) |
| Number of teams | 31 |
| TV partner(s) | ABS-CBN (S+A, Liga, A2Z, The Filipino Channel, iWantTFC) Fox Sports |
| Regular season | |
| Top seed | San Juan Knights |
| Season MVP | John Wilson (San Juan) |
| Playoffs | |
| North Division champions | San Juan Knights |
| North Division runners-up | Makati Super Crunch |
| South Division champions | Davao Occidental Tigers |
| South Division runners-up | Basilan Steel |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Davao Occidental Tigers |
| Runners-up | San Juan Knights |
| Finals MVP | Mark Yee (Davao Occidental) |
This season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines as the season had to be suspended on March 11, 2020, midway through the Division Finals. Nearly one year later, the playoffs resumed on March 10, 2021 with a bubble in the Subic Bay Gymnasium in Olongapo, Zambales.
This season featured 31 teams, which is currently the biggest the league has gotten, with six expansion teams joining and one team departing from the league.
The opening ceremonies took place at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. The 2020 MPBL All-Star Game was also held at the same venue on February 13, 2020, as the South Division once again defeated the North Division in overtime with a score of 126–122.