2021 MPBL Invitational

The 2021 MPBL Invitational was the preseason tournament for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2022 season and the first edition of what would become the MPBL Preseason Invitational. The tournament began on December 11, 2021 and ended on December 23, 2021 when the Basilan Jumbo Plastic beat the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards in overtime, 83–80. Philip Manalang, who hit the championship-winning buzzer beater for Basilan, was adjudged as the tournament Finals MVP.

All games were played at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay at 50% capacity, making it the first pro sports event in the Philippines to allow live spectators since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament was contested by 22 teams, which is currently the most for a Preseason Invitational.

Chooks-to-Go continued to be the league's title sponsor after taking over the league's basketball operations in October 2021 while TM became the league's presenting sponsor, hence the tournament is officially known as the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Invitational powered by TM.

After culminating its 2019–20 season in March 2021, the league looked to start the next season on June 12, 2021. However, the continuing restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines caused the league to postpone it to the third quarter of 2021. After postponing again to 2022, Duremdes announced the Invitational tournament to help "reignite" the league.

Although it wasn't the league's first preseason tournament, it was the league's first event as a professional league, being granted professional status by the Games and Amusements Board earlier in the year.

For the first time since the level of restriction for live musical events were relaxed, Filipino pop and R&B band South Border performed their reunion concert at the pregame ceremony of the Invitational finals, while rock band MOJOFLY performed during the halftime show.

Of the 31 teams that participated in the previous season, 21 took part in the Invitational. In addition, the Invitational also featured the first appearance of the Negros Muscovados, bringing the total to 22 teams.

Notes

The draw for the group stage took place on November 26, 2021 at the Crowne Plaza in Pasig, hosted by Mark Zambrano and Christian Luanzon. The 22 teams were drawn into four groups, two groups of six teams (Groups A and D) and two groups of five teams (Groups B and C).

Two teams were immediately allocated, the Basilan Jumbo Plastic was placed in Group B by virtue of winning the 2021 Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup 1st Conference. The San Juan Knights were placed in Group C as last season's finalists. The remaining 20 teams were drawn at random into the four groups.

The tournament is divided into two stages: the group stage and the playoffs. Each of the four groups play in a single round-robin format, wherein each team plays one game against all other teams within the same group. The top two teams in each group advance to a three-round, single-elimination playoffs consisting of all knockout games. For this tournament only, all roster regulations were lifted.

The top three teams were given prize money based on their standings: ₱2 million for the champion, ₱500,000 for the runner-up, and ₱250,000 for the third-place team.

(*) denotes number of overtime periods

In the final possession of the game, Philip Manalang would attempt a three-point shot which, if successful, Basilan would win the Invitational tournament, otherwise the game would go into double overtime. The shot ended up being successful, giving Basilan the lead as they won the 2021 MPBL Invitational. For his championship-winning buzzer beater, Manalang was declared the Finals MVP of the tournament.

The individual league awards was given during the Semifinals of the 2021 MPBL Invitational at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. The Finals Most Valuable Player was given out after the final game.

While the league was looking for a new broadcast partner as a result of the shutdown of ABS-CBN broadcasting, the television broadcast rights for the inaugural Preseason Invitational were handled by the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC). The streaming rights went to TAP Digital Media Ventures Corporation, which streamed the games on its TAP Go service. The league continued to broadcast all of the games online on its Facebook page.