NORTHPORT came to the PBA with a lot of promise.
After all, there was a lot of hope for the former Powerade franchise when it was bought by Mikee Romero, who had won numerous championships for Harbour Centre in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) and with the national team.
READ Pureblends completes buyout of NorthPort's PBA franchise for P90M
But after 13 largely uneventful, title-less seasons in the pro league, the Batang Pier find themselves packed, shipped, and ready to go, delivered to a new owner just before the 50th season of the PBA.
Let’s take a look at the shipping journey of NorthPort in the pro league.
Arrival (2012)
Romero has long coveted an entry to the PBA, one he first attempted when his company tried to purchase the Barako Bull franchise from Bert Lina back in 2009.
Three years later, that dream was realized when his Sultan 900 Capital Inc. acquired the Powerade franchise from Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. for P100 million and an additional PHP 10 million application fee.
With it came the core of the Tigers – one which was fresh off a scintillating run to the Philippine Cup Finals the season prior buoyed by the brilliance of one Gary David.
READ: All the top players NorthPort traded or failed to keep
But soon after the acquisition, the rechristened GlobalPort team made a phalanx of moves – a harbinger of what’s to come for its time in the PBA - most notably sending JVee Casio to Alaska for Willie Miller before the season and trading for Japeth Aguilar and Sol Mercado midseason.
These moves built that MMDA quartet of Mercado, Miller, David, and Aguilar which guided the team in its maiden year as the Batang Pier changed coaches between Glenn Capacio and Junel Baculi. That was until Aguilar was sent to Ginebra during the season-ending Governors’ Cup and David to Meralco the following conference.
Romeo, Oh Romeo (2014)
GlobalPort got a big foundational piece in the 2014 PBA Rookie Draft when flamboyant guard Terrence Romeo fell on its lap at fifth overall. Immediately, the Far Eastern U scorer made his presence felt as he fired 34 points in only his second game, a glimpse of what’s to come in his time with the Batang Pier.
Romeo’s arrival signaled a shift towards youth with the team also getting the likes of RR Garcia, Nico Salva, and LA Revilla as they navigated from having Richie Ticzon as head coach in the Philippine Cup to Pido Jarencio for the remainder of the season.
First pick (2015)
After two years in the muck, GlobalPort got a big spark getting the first overall pick in the 2015 PBA Rookie Draft and selecting spitfire Fil-Am guard Stanley Pringle. This birthed the killer “Slash Brothers” backcourt tandem of Romeo and Pringle which kept the team competitive and got them to the playoffs for two of the three conferences that year.
Romeo also won the first of three consecutive Scoring Champion plums in the 2014-15 season.
But the breakthrough came the following season when GlobalPort pulled off a stunner and eliminated Ginebra, 84-83, in overtime in the quarterfinals, albeit in controversial fashion when the officials failed to call a 5-second ballhandling violation in the closing seconds.
Nonetheless, the Batang Pier reached the semifinals for the first time in the 2015-16 Philippine Cup before being given the boot by Alaska in five games.
Pumaren press activated (2016)
The turnstile of coaches continued after four years for GlobalPort as they went through six coaches in that span.
With that, Franz Pumaren was brought in hopeful that he can provide that much needed stability for the Batang Pier armed with much potential thanks to the Romeo-Pringle duo.
At times, things seemed to have trended upward with GlobalPort finishing fifth in the Philippine Cup before being sent home packing by TNT. But as the season continued, things just went downhill compounded by injuries to the Batang Pier’s top guards and ending with a 3-8 record in the Governors’ Cup and eventually, Pumaren’s sacking.
Romeo bids goodbye (2018)
As much as personal glory went Romeo’s way at GlobalPort, its lack of success was still a sour point for him that he grew frustrated in his time there and even saw him engage in a shouting match with his coach Jarencio. Eventually, the two parties finally broke as Romeo was sent to TNT for Mo Tautuaa in April 2018.
Without his running partner, Pringle got the bulk of the load and won the scoring title even as the Batang Pier wallowed at the bottom of the standings in the import-laden conferences.
Ang takes control of North Harbor from Romeros (2018)
From the start of GlobalPort's PBA campaign in 2012, owner Mikee Romero had faced accusations that he was fronting for San Miguel Corp. and its head Ramon S. Ang who was then the Romeros' partner at Manila North Harbor - a rumor he denied (READ: Mikee Romero denies 'dummy' claim]. But the rumors grew louder in Sept. 2018 when Ang and fellow tycoon Enrique Razon seized control of Manila North Harbor from the Romeros. Mikee rarely watched the Batang Pier at the games since.
New hope (2019)
Pringle’s time with the Batang Pier didn’t last long as the rebranded NorthPort packaged him to Ginebra, all while hitting the restart button with rookie Robert Bolick and midseason acquisition Christian Standhardinger.
Now being seen as a rag-tag team, the squad was that season’s feel-good story, first marching as the no. 2-seed in the Commissioner’s Cup but got the short end of the stick after squandering a twice-to-beat advantage against San Miguel in the quarterfinals.
But they saved their best the following conference as NorthPort shocked top-seeded NLEX in the Governors’ Cup quarterfinals as the No. 8 seed. Riding the prowess of Bolick, Standhardinger, Sean Anthony, and import Michael Qualls, the Batang Pier gutted out an exhausting triple-overtime Game Two to pull off the 126-123 thrilling win over Kiefer Ravena and the Road Warriors.
However, they just couldn’t get the luck of the draw once more, losing to Ginebra in four games in the semifinals.
Despite that, Standhardinger, who was the Best Player of the Conference winner, and Anthony were rewarded with Mythical First Team selections for their efforts that season.
Sorting center (2020-2023)
All good things must come to an end, apparently, and the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t really help at all.
Standhardinger was traded to Ginebra for Greg Slaughter, but the former Ateneo slotman only played one conference for NorthPort.
Anthony, who has been one of the team’s staples in 2017, was part of the three-team trade which sent him to Phoenix, Vic Manuel to San Miguel, and Arwind Santos to the Batang Pier.
William Navarro, taken second overall in the special Gilas round of the PBA Season 46 Rookie Draft, found himself embroiled in controversy after signing with Seoul Samsung Thunders before eventually agreeing to a deal with NorthPort in 2022.
Jamie Malonzo, picked second in the regular phase of the same draft, only spent four conferences with the team before being sent to Ginebra for Arvin Tolentino in 2022.
Bolick, after three seasons, went overseas and signed with the Japan B.League second division team Fukushima Firebonds in 2023 before being traded to NLEX upon his return a year after.
It’s not all bad, though, as this stretch also had its moments, including then-team manager Bonnie Tan’s heartwarming three-game stint at the helm inside the Bacolor bubble during the 2021 Philippine Cup with much of the coaching staff led by Jarencio subjected to the league’s health and safety protocols. That allowed NorthPort to make it to the playoffs, finishing fifth with a 6-5 record before losing to San Miguel in the quarterfinals.
Arvin the king (2023)
Amid the constant movements at NorthPort, Arvin Tolentino remained the constant, with his confidence being boosted by his inclusion to the Gilas Pilipinas team which captured the gold medal in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
And he played like a man on a mission the season after, establishing himself as a bonafide superstar at the forefront for the Batang Pier which netted him his only Mythical First Team selection.
But it’s in the 2024-25 Commissioner’s Cup where his star shone its brightest, anchoring NorthPort to a league-best 9-3 win-loss record, the franchise’s best finish in the eliminations, before disposing Magnolia in the quarterfinals and eventually falling to Ginebra in five games in the semifinals.
Despite those failures, Tolentino was still named as the Best Player of the Conference.
However, as the case with Batang Pier stars of the past, he went abroad to sign with the Seoul SK Knights in the KBL upon the expiration of his contract.
Firesale (2024-2025)
From there, nothing came easy for NorthPort.
Dave Ildefonso, picked fifth in the PBA Season 49 Rookie Draft, failed to come to terms with the Batang Pier and took his act to Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
John Amores got his license revoked for an off-court shooting incident in Laguna prior to their Commissioner’s Cup run.
Emerging stars like Zavier Lucero and William Navarro were also shipped to Magnolia, in separate trades, in lieu of Calvin Abueva and Jio Jalalon.
On court, things as expected didn’t come easy as coach Bonnie Tan traversed murky waters, capped off by a horrifying 2-9 campaign in the 2025 Philippine Cup. That turned out to be the franchise’s final conference in the league.
Delivery completed (2025)
After 12 seasons in the PBA, NorthPort has finally reached its end point.
Pureblends Corp., a custom food manufacturing company, completed the acquisition of the franchise for the price of PHP 90 million over the weekend.
Through that span, the Batang Pier made it to the playoffs 16 times, reached the semifinals thrice, and ended with a cumulative 147-250 win-loss record - a 37-percent winning percentage.
It certainly is not the most decorated legacies in the PBA, but for the number of players which it honed over the years, whether NorthPort intended to keep them or not, they surely will have a special place in their hearts.
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