The 1998 PBA All-Star is the first time the league used the annual meet to test the Philippine national squad. The PBA has shut its doors on international meets at that point, with the exception of the Asian Games. In 1990, the league sent Ramon Fernandez, Alvin Patrimonio, Ronnie Magsanoc, and Benjie Paras to combo with former Northern Cement standouts Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, and Samboy Lim under the tutelage of Robert Jaworski.
As it stands, winning the silver medal in the Beijing games is our best finish after winning our fourth gold medal in 1962.
Unlike the 1994 version, which had the San Miguel core share limelight with PBA players and amateur stars, The 1998 version, dubbed the Centennial Dream Team, was handpicked by Tim Cone to get at least a silver finish. At that point, China is the Asian powerhouse but in some ways, we weren't really checking out the awesomeness of South Korea.
Anyway, Alaska sacrificed a possible second grand slam to help the team finish respectably. Aside from Tim Cone, also on the roster are Johnny Abarrientos, Jojo Lastimosa, Bong Hawkins (injured - and became part of the team as a scout), and eventual season MVP Kenneth Duremdes. Former Alaska player Jeffrey Cariaso is also part of the squad but was sent to the reserve list in lieu of Olsen Racela.
In the All-Star Game wherein the Centennial Dream battled the PBA All-Stars at the Cuneta Astrodome and Cebu City Coliseum (the first All-Star outside Metro Manila and the first official All-Star series), the Nationals won both games with Vergel Meneses winning his second All-Star MVP plum.
