Alvin Vergara Patrimonio is a Filipino retired professional basketball player from the Philippine Basketball Association and is the current team manager for the Magnolia Hotshots.
Alvin Patrimonio entered the PBA in 1988 alongside the Rookie of the Year Jojo Lastimosa, many-time Mythical Team and Best Defensive Team member Jerry Codiñera and perennial Best Defensive Team member Glenn Capacio.
He was the subject of a controversy between Swift, his PABL team, and Purefoods, the team who drafted him. Both happen to be corporate rivals. There was a dispute between the two franchises which delayed his entry to the PBA. This ruined his chances of winning the Rookie of the Year award.
He stands at 6’3″ and primarily played at the power forward position in the professional league. He also played the center position in his collegiate and amateur days. His style of play was said to be comparable to Karl Malone, characterized by rugged physical play punctuated by finesse maneuvers. His known trademark was the spin move to the low post which he utilized to great effect due to his exceptional pivoting skills.
In 1991, he signed a 5-year 25 million peso offer sheet from cellar-dwelling PBA ballclub Pepsi Hotshots which was matched by his mother ballclub Purefoods TJ Hotdogs. Patrimonio’s new contract ushered the era of the multi-millionaire players. He justified this contract by winning the 1991, 1993 and 1994 Most Valuable Player awards of the PBA and leading the team to three conference championships. At the end of the contract, he managed to win his fourth Most Valuable Player award in the 1997 season, thus tying the all-time record.
Over time, his dominance in the post meant that he was accorded an automatic double or triple-team whenever he had possession in the low block. This led to the gradual adjustment of his game as he advanced in his career, showing superior playmaking abilities from passing out of multiple defenders at the post.
At the latter stage of his lengthy career, he also developed an accurate 3 point shot, and in 1998 he even led the league in 3 point FG percentage. With these added skills, he rounded out his playing days manning the small forward position.
In 2004, 16 years after playing in the pro league, he announced his retirement to concentrate more on his duties as the current team manager of the Purefoods franchise in the PBA. Arguably one of the best power forwards in the history of the PBA, he was as a prolific scorer ending his career as the league’s third highest point scorer with 15,091, behind all-time greats Ramon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben with 18,996 and 15,775 points respectively; and a great rebounder as well by ending up the fourth all-time in PBA history with more than 6,000 boards.
On November 26, 2005, he played in the Legends 3-Point Shootout during the PBA All-Star in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. The game saw Alvin Patrimonio sink the very last money ball to prop the Legends, also composed of Ronnie Magsanoc and Frankie Lim, to a 41-39 win over the young Turks of Jimmy Alapag, Ren-Ren Ritualo, and Dondon Hontiveros.
He has a reputation for being one of the most beloved players in Philippine basketball, and is arguably the second most popular player of all time, just behind “Living Legend” Robert Jaworski.
