Pauliasi Taulava also know as Asi Taulava, is a Tongan-born Filipino professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association. He is the oldest active player in the league.
Asi Taulava was directly hired by the Mobiline Phone Pals to boost up their frontline. From 1999 to 2002, he was only able to lead the team to a single finals stint which happened during the 2002 Commissioner’s Cup, ending as runners-up.
2003 was a fruitful year for Asi Taulava when he led the Phone Pals to the All-Filipino Championship while being named as the Best Player of the Conference. At season’s end, he became the first Fil-foreign cager since Great Taste’s Ricardo Brown in 1985 to win the Most Valuable Player Award.
In 2004, they ended in third place. Asi Taulava, along with teammate Jimmy Alapag, was named as the co-MVP of the All-Star Game held in Cebu City.
During the 2004–05 PBA season, the Department of Justice announced that Asi Taulava and five other Fil-foreign cagers have irregular documents. PBA commissioner Noli Eala indefinitely suspended him and some of the other players. But even without Asi Taulava, the Phone Pals were still able to have a good elimination round record of 12-6. Later, a series of controversies rocked during the course of the Philippine Cup Finals as the Phone Pals lost in five games. In the Fiesta Conference, he led them again to the finals but still lost to the San Miguel Beermen in game five.
During the 2005 off-season, Asi Taulava played for Team Pilipinas in the William Jones Cup and the Brunei Cup tournaments.
During the 2005-06 PBA season, Asi Taulava was named MVP of the All-Star Game held in Cagayan de Oro City in 2006 as he led the South All-Stars to a 122-120 win over the North All-Stars.
In 2006-2007, the Phone Pals reached the semi-finals during the Philippine Cup but lost to the Barangay Ginebra Kings in six games. On the following conference, the team reached the finals despite his absence. However, they were still not able to get the crown against the Alaska Aces.
