Arwind Anaya Santos (; born June 10, 1981) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Basilan Viva Portmasters of the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...

(MPBL).

Amateur career

High school career

Born in

Angeles City Angeles (), officially the City of Angeles (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 462,928 people. A ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, Santos played for Lubao Institute during his high school career and won the West Central Zone Championship. In 2000, he became well known during zonal competitions because of his hard work on the basketball court. He was then included in the line up of RQP (Rodolfo Q. Pineda) Team, a local ball club in Lubao under the supervision of Dennis 'Delta' Pineda, who is also a supporter of San Sebastian College-Recoletos Stags and the one responsible for landing the Pinatubo Trio composed of Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual and

Ian Sangalang Ian Paul Mendoza Sangalang (born December 20, 1991) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted 2nd overall by the San Mig Super Coffee ...

in the NCAA. Pineda helped him in college and landed him a spot in the FEU Tamaraws men's basketball team.

College career

Santos arrived at the

UAAP The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univer ...

scene in 2002 with the

FEU Tamaraws The FEU Tamaraws and Lady Tamaraws are the varsity teams of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The university's high school varsity teams are called the ''FEU-D Baby Tamaraws, Baby Tamaraws'' ...

where he won Rookie of the Year honors. With the Tamaraws struggling to enter the final four, he was still able to put up a decent performance. One of the highlights of his freshman year was a game-tying three against the eventual champion

Ateneo Blue Eagles The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the collegiate varsity teams of the Ateneo de Manila University that play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere collegiate league in the Philippines. The Ateneo collegiate ...

. In 2003, he led the Tamaraws to the UAAP title for the first time in six seasons, sweeping the Blue Eagles in the process. He was a candidate to win the Most Valuable Player Award, but was beaten by

University of the East The University of the East (), also known as UE, is a private university located in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1946, business tycoon Lucio Tan acquired the university in 1990. UE was once labeled as the "largest university in Asia" when i ...

star James Yap. However, by leading the Tamaraws to the title, he was named Finals MVP. He was also named Defensive Player of the Year and was part of the Mythical Five together with season MVP Yap, Rich Alvarez,

Paul Artadi Paul Anthony Dy Artadi (born May 5, 1981) is a Filipino politician, basketball coach, and former professional player. On his eleven-year career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), he played the point guard position and was a three-ti ...

, and

Reynaldo Mendoza Reynaldo Arce Mendoza (24 March 1917 - 4 June 2001) was a Philippine Army brigadier general. He was a member of the class of 1940, the author of the Alma Mater song "PMA, Oh Hail to Thee," and former Superintendent of the Philippine Military A ...

. He would win the Most Valuable Player award the next season (2004) but the Tamaraws lost to the De La Salle Green Archers in three crucial games. However, with the controversy that surrounded the Archers, the title was then awarded to FEU. He also made it to the UAAP Mythical Five alongside Mark Cardona, LA Tenorio, Paolo Bugia and Dennis Miranda. In his last year (2005) in the UAAP, he again led the team to the title by sweeping the Green Archers in an anticipated championship rematch against La Salle, thereby giving the Tamaraws a three-peat from 2003 to 2005. He was awarded Season MVP and Finals MVP for that season, and was also named to the Mythical Five with Mark Isip, Tenorio, Edwin Asoro and Joseph Yeo. He is one of the only two players in the FEU Tamaraws that had his jersey (#19) retired. The other one was

Johnny Abarrientos Johnny Abarrientos (born July 17, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He was also a many-time member of the Philippine National team, and was the 1996 PBA Most Valuable Player, ...

Philippine Basketball League

In 2003, Santos made his PBL debut for Viva Mineral Water, a team composed of fellow FEU teammates. After a slow start, he led the Water Force all the way to the PBL Unity Cup finals, where they lost in five games to Hapee Toothpaste. In 2004, he led Viva to its first PBL crown defeating Welcoat Paints in the 2004 Unity Cup. He was adjudged PBL MVP of the tournament and was part of the 2004 Mythical Five alongside former PBA players

Jojo Tangkay Jercules "Jojo" Tangkay (born November 26, 1976) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He was drafted 16th overall by the Sta. Lucia Realtors in the 2001 PBA draft. Career Tangkay made the roster of Southwestern University ...

and Chester Tolomia and teammates Miranda and Isip. In 2006, he led Magnolia Ice Cream to the PBL Heroes Cup title, coming back from 0–2 deficit to defeat Welcoat Paints. In the PBL Unity Cup, Magnolia made an early exit. However, he still made the Mythical Second Team in his final PBL conference.

Professional career

Air21 Express / Burger King Titans/Whoopers (2006–2009)

In the 2006 PBA draft, Santos was selected second overall by the Air21 Express. He later signed a deal to play his first three seasons with the team, playing alongside Ranidel de Ocampo, Yancy de Ocampo, and KG Canaleta. He chose to wear the number 29 since his usual number 19 was already worn by Wynne Arboleda. He ranked first among rookies in scoring during the Philippine Cup and almost led the Express to a quarterfinals appearance only to lose against the Sta. Lucia Realtors in a knockout match. Santos was one of the leading contenders for the Rookie of the Year honors at the season's end with the likes of Sta. Lucia's Kelly Williams and Welcoat's Jay-R Reyes as among the possible winners. Williams eventually won the ROY award. But Santos was part of the All-Rookie Team together with Williams, Jay-R Reyes, Jireh Ibañes and LA Tenorio.

Petron Blaze Boosters / San Miguel Beermen (2009–2021)

During the off season Arwind Santos finally got his wish to play for the

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...

, the winningest team in the history of the Philippine Basketball Association. None among the officials confirmed the trade although a highly placed source revealed that Santos was shipped to the Beermen in exchange for 6'5" power forward Marc Pingris, 6'6" sophomore center Ken Bono and San Miguel's 2010 first round pick. In the first round of the 2010–11 Philippine Cup, San Miguel compiled an 11–3 record while Santos averaged 16.6 points per game. In the 2011 PBA Governors Cup, he was awarded with the Best Player of the Conference. He also led his team to an improbable championship in the Governor's Cup conference over the highly favored Talk 'N Text team who were aiming to complete a rare grand slam. In so doing, he was named the Phoenix Fuels-PBA Press Corps Finals MVP. In the 2011–12 season, Santos led Petron Blaze Boosters to a pair of semifinal showings in the PBA Philippine Cup and PBA Governors Cup in a rather disappointing season for him and the team that led to speculations that coach Agustin is now on the way out. In the 2012–13 season, Santos led the Petron Blaze Boosters to a runner-up finish in the season-ending Governors Cup against the San Mig Coffee Mixers in a series that went the distance, 3–4. While his team lost the championship, Santos won his second BPC award in the season-ending Governor's Cup by edging out teammates June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot. He won his first-ever MVP award with a total of 2,840 points beating out Barangay Ginebra's LA Tenorio (2,819) and Talk N' Text's Jayson Castro (1,682). He also made it to the Mythical First Team for the sixth straight year and the All-Defensive Team for the seventh straight year. During the season, Santos also claimed the All-Star MVP alongside Jeff Chan. In the Philippine Cup of the 2014–15 PBA season, Santos led the

to the championship alongside current MVP June Mar Fajardo in a grueling 7-game series against the Alaska Aces. For his consistent play in the finals, Santos was named the Petron Sprint 4T Finals MVP, his second Finals MVP award. On October 14, 2016, Santos was recognized during the PBA Leo Awards Night as he was named to the PBA Mythcial First Team. During the second quarter of game five of the 2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup finals, after TNT player Terrence Jones committed a foul, Santos made "monkey" gestures addressing Jones at the bench of San Miguel. Initially he refused to apologize stating "I’m going to apologize? No. It depends on him. If he was annoyed, he’s a real monkey." PBA commissioner Willie Marcial sanctioned Santos with a ₱200,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and to undergo counseling on equality and racial discrimination. Santos later issued an apology via his Instagram and Twitter account.

NorthPort Batang Pier (2021–2023)

On November 8, 2021, after 12 years with the Beermen, Santos was traded to NorthPort Batang Pier for Vic Manuel. On May 19, 2022, Santos signed a one-year extension with the team. Santos also became the oldest to win Defensive Player of the Year when he won it for the third time in his career. Aside from winning the DPOY for the 2021 season, he also was part of the Mythical First Team and member of the All-Defensive team during the Leo Awards. On July 2, 2022, he became the newest member of the PBA's 10,000 Point Club when he made a fadeaway baseline jumper in the third quarter against his former team.

Pampanga Giant Lanterns (2023–2025)

Santos was among the players listed as part of the

Pampanga Giant Lanterns The Pampanga Giant Lanterns (shortened as PGL and also known as Pampanga Giant Lanterns – AMG3 Construction for sponsorship reasons) are a Filipino professional basketball team based in San Fernando, Pampanga. The team competes in the Maha ...

' roster ahead of the 2023 MPBL season. However, he would continue to be with NorthPort for the PBA on Tour. On October 5, 2023, it was announced that Santos would make his debut in the

with the team for the first game of their 2023 playoffs campaign. The Lanterns would go on to win the

2023 MPBL finals The 2023 MPBL finals was the championship series of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's (MPBL) 2023 season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. In the best-of-five playoff, the North Division champion Pampanga Giant Lantern ...

, giving Santos his tenth professional league championship. After being unlisted in Pampanga's initial 2024 roster, Santos rejoined the Giant Lanterns for a second season on July 1, 2024.

PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2022–23 season''

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , Air21 , 44 , , 29.0 , , .424 , , .274 , , .752 , , 8.3 , , .9 , , .8 , , 1.2 , , 14.2 , - , align=left , , align=left , Air21 , 51 , , 34.3 , , .430 , , .250 , , .704 , , 9.6 , , 1.7 , , 1.2 , , 1.5 , , 16.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , Air21 / Burger King , 44 , , 31.7 , , .406 , , .274 , , .708 , , 7.8 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 16.7 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 55 , , 31.4 , , .480 , , .226 , , .675 , , 7.9 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 14.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel / Petron , 56 , , 36.3 , , .429 , , .266 , , .702 , , 10.7 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , 15.3 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Petron Petron Corporation is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than a third of the country's oil requirements. It operates a refinery in Limay, Bataan with a rated capacity of . From the refinery, Petron ...

, 46 , , 33.5 , , .455 , , .267 , , .690 , , 10.7 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , 1.4 , , 15.0 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 52 , , 31.0 , , .430 , , .197 , , .636 , , 8.5 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 12.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , Petron / San Miguel , 42 , , 36.0 , , .436 , , .274 , , .683 , , 8.6 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 15.1 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 54 , , 31.9 , , .406 , , .306 , , .680 , , 7.1 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , 1.2 , , 12.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 52 , , 32.3 , , .376 , , .287 , , .804 , , 7.4 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , 1.5 , , 12.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 58 , , 31.0 , , .436 , , .327 , , .728 , , 7.1 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , 1.2 , , 14.1 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 57 , , 31.8 , , .417 , , .316 , , .699 , , 7.1 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 1.7 , , 13.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 57 , , 28.1 , , .347 , , .287 , , .700 , , 6.0 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , 1.2 , , 9.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 13 , , 35.7 , , .415 , , .368 , , .611 , , 9.5 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , 12.4 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , San Miguel , rowspan=2, 32 , , rowspan=2, 36.2 , , rowspan=2, .424 , , rowspan=2, .317 , , rowspan=2, .706 , , rowspan=2, 8.8 , , rowspan=2, 1.7 , , rowspan=2, .8 , , rowspan=2, 1.5 , , rowspan=2, 14.2 , - , align=left , NorthPort , - , align=left , , align=left , NorthPort , 21 , , 28.5 , , .345 , , .207 , , .727 , , 6.7 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , 1.2 , , 9.6 , - class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 734 , , 32.3 , , .420 , , .282 , , .703 , , 8.2 , , 1.5 , , .9 , , 1.3 , , 13.8

National team career

He also suited up for the Philippine National Team a couple of times under coach Chot Reyes in 2006 with the likes of LA Tenorio and Joseph Yeo and competed in the 28th Jones Cup but didn't make it to the final line up in 2007. In 2009, he was included to the Powerade Team Pilipinas under Coach

Yeng Guiao Joseller "Yeng" Medina Guiao (born March 19, 1959) is a Filipino professional basketball head coach, politician, commentator and sports commissioner. He is currently the head coach of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketba ...

wherein the team landed 8th overall in the

2009 FIBA Asia Championship The 2009 in sports, 2009 FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the biennial Asian continental championship and also served as the FIBA Asia qualifying tournament for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from August 6 to 16, 2009 i ...

. In August 2010, Santos, along with other PBA players, was considered as a possible reinforcement for Smart Gilas, as the developmental Philippine national basketball team was looking to make the squad more competitive. The NBA Generations team featured NBA legends

Dominique Wilkins Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is a French-born American former professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins is a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seve ...

Tim Hardaway Timothy Duane Hardaway Sr. (born September 1, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player. Hardaway played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets a ...

Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento King ...

and

Robert Horry Robert Keith Horry ( ; born August 25, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player and current sports commentator. Horry was a member of seven championship winning teams and is considered, by some, to be one of the most clutch sho ...

and coached by NBA six-time MVP and Hall of Famer

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( ; born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. , April 16, 1947) is an American former basketball player. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Associatio ...

. Making up the PBA All-Stars line-up were PBA legends Alvin Patrimonio, Allan Caidic, Ronnie Magsanoc, Benjie Paras and

Kenneth Duremdes Kenneth Celera Duremdes (born January 31, 1974) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who currently serves as the commissioner of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). Nicknamed as "Captain Marbel", Duremdes played i ...

and active players Santos, Wynne Arboleda, Japeth Aguilar,

Dondon Hontiveros Donaldo "Dondon" Cabañes Hontiveros (born June 1, 1977) is a Filipino politician and former professional basketball player and coach. He has been serving as vice mayor of Cebu City since 2024 by virtue of succession, due to the suspension of ...

, Jay-R Reyes, Marc Pingris, Enrico Villanueva, Sonny Thoss,

Willie Miller William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in th ...

and Joseph Yeo. In 2012, Santos was listed to the 16-man pool requested by Chot Reyes to be included in the Smart Gilas Pilipinas 2.0. He was unable to sign the commitment letter due to the Petron management's disapproval.

Personal life

Santos married Karyn Maye Umayam and started living together in Sampaloc, Manila. On December 9, 2005, Umayam gave birth to their first child but barely a month after, Santos left his wife and child. When Umayan found out that Santos was living with Ivette Iza Gavieres, daughter of his former FEU coach Danny Gavieres, who was pregnant, she decided to go back to her parents' house in Batangas City. Arwind Santos is known as the first player in the ''Bawal Judgmental!'' segment of variety show ''

Eat Bulaga! ''Eat !'' (; stylized as ''Eat... Bulaga!'') is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine television variety show broadcast by Radio Philippines Network, ABS-CBN, GMA Network and TV5 (Philippine TV network), TV5. Originally hosted by Tito S ...

'' to perfect the game and win a total of at least

₱ The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...

50,000.

Honors and achievements

UAAP

*Rookie of the Year ** 65th UAAP season *2-Time UAAP Most Valuable Player ** 67th UAAP season ** 68th UAAP season *2-Time UAAP Finals Most Valuable Player ** 66th UAAP season ** 68th UAAP season *3-Time Mythical First Five Member ** 66th UAAP season ** 67th UAAP season ** 68th UAAP season

PBL

*1-Time PBL Most Valuable Player **2004 PBL Unity Cup *1-Time PBL Mythical First Team Member **2004 PBL Unity Cup *1-Time PBL Mythical Second Team Member **2006 PBL Unity Cup

PBA

*1-Time PBA Most Valuable Player **2012–2013 PBA Season *10-Time PBA Mythical First Team Member **2007–2008 PBA Season **2008–2009 PBA Season **2009–2010 PBA Season **2010–2011 PBA Season **2011–2012 PBA Season **2012–2013 PBA Season **2014–2015 PBA Season **2015–2016 PBA Season **2016–2017 PBA Season **2017–2018 PBA Season *7-Time PBA All Defensive Team Member **2006–2007 PBA Season **2007–2008 PBA Season **2008–2009 PBA Season **2009–2010 PBA Season **2010–2011 PBA Season **2011–2012 PBA Season **2012–2013 PBA Season *11-Time PBA All-Star **2007–2008 PBA Season **2008–2009 PBA Season **2009–2010 PBA Season **2010–2011 PBA Season **2011–2012 PBA Season **2012–2013 PBA Season **2013–2014 PBA Season **2014–2015 PBA Season **2016–2017 PBA Season **2017–2018 PBA Season **2018–2019 PBA Season *2-Time PBA Defensive Player of the Year **2007–2008 PBA Season **2010–2011 PBA Season *3-Time PBA Mythical Second Team Member **2006–2007 PBA Season **2017–2018 PBA Season **2018–2019 PBA Season *PBA All Rookie Team Member **2006–2007 PBA Season *2-Time Best Player Of The Conference **2010–2011 Governor's Cup **2012–2013 Governor's Cup *2-Time PBA Finals MVP **2011 Governor's Cup **2014–2015 Philippine Cup *1-Time PBA Blitz Game MVP **2007 PBA Rookie-Sophomore Blitz Game *2-Time PBA All Star Game MVP **2013 PBA All Star Game **2019 PBA All Star Game

References

External links

Profile at PBA-Online!

Profile at PBA.ph
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Arwind 1981 births Living people 21st-century Filipino sportsmen Barako Bull Energy draft picks Barako Bull Energy players Basilan Viva Portmasters players Basketball players from Pampanga FEU Tamaraws basketball coaches FEU Tamaraws basketball players Filipino men's basketball coaches Filipino men's basketball players Filipino Roman Catholics Kapampangan people NorthPort Batang Pier players Pampanga Giant Lanterns players Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Power forwards Race-related controversies Racism in sport San Miguel Beermen players Small forwards Sportspeople from Angeles City