The 1997 Sta. Lucia Realtors season was the fifth season of the franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
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Summary
After a four-year coaching stint with the Purefoods ballclub, coach Chot Reyes accepted the offer of Sta. Lucia as their new head coach at the beginning of the season. The Realtors finish second in a tie with Purefoods after the eliminations of the All-Filipino Cup, they failed to land into one of the two finals berth and placed third by winning over San Miguel in a one-game playoff.
Kenny Redfield, the two-time best import, who led Formula Shell to the Commissioner's Cup finals last season, was hired by the Realtors in the second conference. Sta.Lucia were tied with three other teams on top with 6 wins and 4 losses. In the semifinal round, the Realtors bowed out and could only win two of their eight matches.
The Realtors were off to a hot start in the Governor's Cup, winning their first three games behind import Sean Green, a second round pick of the Indiana Pacers in 1991. Sta.Lucia finish on the top of the standings again and were tied with San Miguel and Alaska, which both made it to the semifinal round outright with a better quotient over the Realtors. Sta.Lucia had to beat Gordon's Gin to qualify into the final four. The Realtors were swept in three games by defending champion Alaska Milkmen in the best-of-five semifinal series.
Occurrences
During the Governors Cup, after Sta.Lucia lost to Alaska by one point on October 28, coach Chot Reyes resigned a few days later and gave up his position to assistant coach Adonis Tierra, who will handle the Realtors on interim basis, reports had it that Reyes' temperaments have cause him his job at Sta.Lucia and the players' boycott against their coach led to his departure.