Joshua Eugene Richardson Munzon (born January 22, 1995) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the

NorthPort Batang Pier The NorthPort Batang Pier is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides Nor ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA).

Early life and collegiate career

Joshua Eugene Munzon was born on January 15, 1995, in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

with his father being Filipino. For his collegiate education, Munzon attended and graduated from the California State University in Los Angeles Prior to committing to the 3x3 variant of basketball, Munzon played competitive 5-a-side basketball. In college, he played for the

Cal State LA Golden Eagles The Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles (also Cal State LA Golden Eagles) are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Los Angeles in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Golden Eagles compete as members of the Cali ...

in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

Professional career

Saigon Heat (2016–2017)

In 2016 shortly after graduating from college, he moved to Vietnam to join the

Saigon Heat The Saigon Heat is a Vietnamese professional basketball team based in Ho Chi Minh City. Since the 2014 season, the Heat's home games are played at the CIS Arena on the campus of the Canadian International School in District 7. This is the fi ...

of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) to start his professional basketball career. He played in the ABL as a "heritage player" for non-Philippine teams owing to his Filipino lineage. He was part of Saigon Heat until January 2017.

Westports Malaysia Dragons (2017–2018)

Shortly after playing for Heat, he joined the

Westports Malaysia Dragons The Kuala Lumpur Dragons are a professional basketball team based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that last played in the ASEAN Basketball League. They also played as the Blustar Detergent Dragons in the Philippines' PBA Developmental League in 2016. ...

in February 2017 and was part of the team for the rest of

2016–17 ABL season The 2016–17 ABL season was the seventh season of competition of the ASEAN Basketball League. The regular season started on 25 November 2016 and will end on 26 March 2017. Teams Venues Personnel Imports The following is the list of impor ...

. After the season, Munzon and Westport could not agree on a contract and Muzon sought to play for another ABL team. However the Malaysian team did not agree to release him to play for another ABL team due to what Munzon claims to be a result of a "gentlemen's agreement" that players will have to wait for a year before playing for another team. For the meantime, Munzon suited up for PEA in the

Thailand Basketball League The Thailand Basketball League (TBL) () is a men's professional basketball league in Thailand. The lower competitions are the TBL Division 2 and Division 3. Hi-Tech is the most decorated team in the league history. History The Thailand Basketb ...

in 2017. Munzon returned to the ABL rejoined the Westports Malaysia Dragons in late December 2017.

iECO Green Warriors (2018)

In 2018, Munzon had a brief stint with the

iECO Green Warriors The IECO Green Warriors (stylized as iECO) are a Philippine basketball team. It were formed in 2018, as a selection team of players and staff from teams of the PBA Developmental League and was tasked to compete in the 2018 The Terrific 12 tourna ...

, a

PBA Developmental League The PBA D-League, or PBA Developmental League, is the official minor league of the Philippine Basketball Association. History The PBA D-League was conceptualized after the collapse of the proposed merger between the Philippine Basketball Lea ...

selection team, which played in Asia League's The Terrific 12 tournament in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

FIBA 3x3 Pro Circuit and Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 (2019)

Munzon has played in the

FIBA 3x3 World Tour The FIBA 3x3 World Tour is an international tour of men's 3x3 basketball teams representing cities. The tournament is organized by FIBA. The FIBA 3x3 Pro Series was launched in 2019. Qualification The FIBA 3x3 Men's Pro Circuit refers to the syst ...

. For the 2019 iteration, he played for Pasig Chooks. In the domestic scene, Munzon plays in the

Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 was a professional 3x3 (basketball), 3-on-3 basketball list of basketball leagues, league in the Philippines and was organized by the country's national basketball federation, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) ...

league. It was in late 2018, that the proponents of the league reached out to Munzon to play 3x3. His participation in the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

helped in boosting the Philippines FIBA 3x3 Federation ranking that qualified the country's national team's participation in the 2020 Summer Olympics qualifiers. In the process, Munzon became part of the Top 100 of the individual FIBA 3x3 rankings at rank 89th and became the top-ranked Filipino player by June 2019.

Terrafirma Dyip (2021–2022)

On March 14, 2021, Munzon was selected first overall by the

Terrafirma Dyip The Terrafirma Dyip is a professional basketball team playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team is owned by Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation and originally played under its affiliate company Columbian Autocar Cor ...

in the PBA season 46 draft.

NorthPort Batang Pier (2023–present)

On January 12, 2023, Munzon was traded to the

for

Kevin Ferrer Kevin Manuel Ferrer (born March 26, 1993) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Terrafirma Dyip of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). High school career Ferrer played for the Tiger Cubs from 2009 up to 2010. In his r ...

. In June 2024, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Batang Pier.

PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2024–25 season''

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , Terrafirma , 9 , , 30.5 , , .403 , , .242 , , , , .758 , , 3.4 , , 2.6 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 16.6 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , Terrafirma , rowspan=2, 33 , , rowspan=2, 25.4 , , rowspan=2, .323 , , rowspan=2, .240 , , rowspan=2, , , rowspan=2, .641 , , rowspan=2, 3.2 , , rowspan=2, 1.9 , , rowspan=2, 1.0 , , rowspan=2, .3 , , rowspan=2, 9.8 , - , align=left , NorthPort , - , align="left" , , align="left" , NorthPort , 24 , , 29.8 , , .389 , , .263 , , , , .796 , , 3.5 , , 3.4 , , 2.5 , , .2 , , 12.3 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , NorthPort , 39 , , 34.3 , , .410 , , .272 , , .200 , , .793 , , 3.7 , , 3.9 , , 2.0 , , .3 , , 15.7 , -class=sortbottom , align="center" colspan=2 , Career , 105 , , 30.1 , , .380 , , .256 , , .200 , , .754 , , 3.5 , , 3.0 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , 13.2

National team career

Munzon is only eligible to play for the

Philippine national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team (), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or s ...

as a "naturalized" player despite his Filipino heritage through his father since he acquired a

Philippine passport A Philippine passport () is both a travel document and a primary national identity document issued to citizens of the Philippines. It is issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine diplomatic missions abroad, with certain ex ...

after turning age 16 as per

FIBA eligibility rules As the governing body of basketball, FIBA is responsible for maintaining and implementing the rules that determine whether a basketball player is eligible to represent a particular country in officially recognized international competitions. Any pl ...

. He instead represents the country through its national 3x3 team.

Notes

References

External links

* Joshua Munzon a
FIBA 3X3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munzon, Joshua 1995 births Living people American sportspeople of Filipino descent ASEAN Basketball League players Basketball players from Long Beach, California Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles men's basketball players FIBA 3x3 World Tour players Filipino expatriate basketball people in Malaysia Filipino expatriate basketball people in Thailand Filipino expatriate basketball people in Vietnam Filipino men's 3x3 basketball players Kuala Lumpur Dragons players NorthPort Batang Pier players Philippines national 3x3 basketball team players Saigon Heat players Shooting guards Small forwards Terrafirma Dyip draft picks Terrafirma Dyip players American men's 3x3 basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Filipino sportsmen