Philippines men's national basketball team

The Philippines men's national basketball team (Filipino: Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or simply SBP).

The team won a bronze medal in the 1954 FIBA World Championship, the best finish by any team outside the Americas and Europe. In the Olympics, the team took a fifth-place finish at the 1936 Summer Olympics, the best finish by a men's team outside the Americas, Europe and Oceania. The Philippines holds the record for most games won at the Olympics among teams outside the Americas, Europe and Oceania.

Aside from the bronze medal at the FIBA World Cup and the fifth-place Olympic finish, the Philippines has won five FIBA Asia Cups (formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship), five Asian Games men's basketball gold medals, eight SEABA Championships, all but three Southeast Asian Games men's basketball gold medals, and has the most titles in Southeast Asia Basketball Association men's championship, being considered the powerhouse team in Southeast Asia and one of Asia's elite basketball teams. The country has also participated in seven FIBA World Cups and seven Olympic Basketball Tournaments.

The Philippines first participated in international basketball in the Far Eastern Championship Games in 1913. The Philippines defeated China in what was the first international game in Asia. The Philippines won all but one (1921) championship until 1934. The games were not under the supervision of FIBA as the organization was founded in 1932.

The Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) was founded in 1936, and became a part of FIBA later that year. Also in the same year, the BAP sent a team nicknamed "the Islanders" that participated in the first Olympic basketball tournament in Berlin. With the tournament under a single-elimination round format from the third game onwards, the Philippines won their first three games only to face the United States in their fourth game. The USA doubled the Philippines' score as they advanced to the next round, and subsequently win the gold medal undefeated. The Philippines wound up fifth place, winning the rest of their games, in the best finish by a men's Asian team in Olympic basketball history. Aside from silver medalists Canada, the Philippines was the only other team that only had one loss in the tournament.

The Philippines returned to the 1948 Olympics in London. The team finished fourth of six teams in their group to be eliminated. The team wound up in twelfth place.

In the 1950s–1960s, the Philippines was among the best in the world, producing world-class players like Carlos Loyzaga, Lauro Mumar, Mariano Tolentino, Francisco Rabat and Edgardo Ocampo. In 1951, team won the inaugural Asian Games basketball tournament in New Delhi, India. The team finished ahead of Japan and four other teams to win the gold medal. On the next Asian Games in 1954 in Manila that served as a qualifiers for the World Championship later that year, the team finished first anew, beating out the Republic of China (Taiwan), Japan and South Korea in the final round.

In 1954 FIBA World Championship in Brazil, Loyzaga was a part of the Mythical Team selection, where the Philippines won the bronze medal. The Philippines finished second in their group behind Brazil and ahead of Paraguay to enter the final round, where the team lost against the US by only 13 points; only the loss against the US and two losses against Brazil were the Philippines' only losses in the world championship. To date, the Philippines' performance remains the best performance by an Asian team in the World Championship.