Alvin Patrimonio

Patrimonio, looking for an opportunity to play basketball, transferred to the Intramuros-based Mapúa Institute of Technology. There, he pursued a degree in Civil Engineering and saw action for the Mapúa Cardinals in the NCAA playing as the team's center from 1983 to 1986. He won the NCAA Most Valuable Player award back-to-back in 1985 and 1986 despite not leading the school to a championship.

Patrimonio first played for YCO Shine Masters in the Philippine Basketball League, now the PBA D-League). He moved to RFM-Swifts when the Elizalde ballclub disbanded after winning two championships in three conferences from 1986-87. Patrimonio had a two-conference stint with the Swift Hotdogs and won a title before joining the PBA in the middle of the 1988 season.

Patrimonio has seen action for the Philippine national team many times in his playing career. Together with Allan Caidic, he shares the record of seeing action for the Asian Games four consecutive times in 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998.

In the 1986 Asian Games, he was part of the all-amateur Philippine national team that was coached by Joe Lipa. The national team won the bronze medal after beating Jordan, 83-81. It finished third behind China and South Korea.

In the 1990 Asian Games,he was part of an all-PBA Philippine national team that was coached by Robert Jaworski. It was the first time that professional basketball players competed in the said event. It won the silver medal. It finished second after losing the Gold Medal Game to eventual champion China, 90-74.

In the 1994 Asian Games, he was part of the San Miguel Beer team that was sent to represent the Philippines compete in the Men's Basketball tournament. The team was coached by Norman Black. The national team lost the Bronze Medal Game to Japan, 79-76.

In the 1998 Asian Games, he was part of an all-PBA Philippine national team also known as the Philippine Centennial Team. The team was coached by Tim Cone. It won the bronze medal after beating Kazakhstan, 73-68. The same team also won the 1998 William Jones Cup after beating Chinese Taipei in the championship game, 82-72.

In 2000, he was part of the all-PBA All-Stars Select Team that represented the Philippines in the FIBA Asia All-Star Extravaganza. The said team was coached by Tim Cone.

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 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.

In 2016, the NU Bulldogs men's basketball team tapped Patrimonio as part of the coaching staff.[2]

Patrimonio was inducted to the PBA Hall of Fame in 2011. Other honorees for the class of 2011 were Billy Ray Bates, Freddie Hubalde, Tommy Manotoc, Mariano Yenko, Tito Eduque and Bobong Velez. They were the fourth group of individuals that was honored by the league.[3][4]

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He is also an endorser of many products such as Purefoods, Swatch, Lipovitan, Kaypee Shoes (during his first few years as a pro player), Nike, etc. He appeared in a political ad campaign for Senator Manny Villar. Alvin and his daughters are also endorsers for New San Jose Builders Inc.