Mike Salonga Cortez (born November 10, 1980) is a Filipino-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and former player. He is an assistant coach for the

Blackwater Bossing The Blackwater Bossing is a professional basketball team owned by Ever Bilena, Inc. that is playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) beginning in the 2014–2015 season. The franchise started as one of the founding teams in the ...

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). He played for eight franchises during his career in the PBA. Cortez gained prominence in the amateur ranks for the

De La Salle Green Archers The De La Salle Green Archers and Lady Archers are the varsity teams representing De La Salle University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, among other leagues. The "Green Archer" is the traditional university mascot. Whi ...

in 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 ...

and the ICTSI Archers in the

Philippine Basketball League The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) was a commercial semi-professional basketball league in the Philippines. The league was composed of several commercial teams with several collegiate and provincial stars. History The PBL was formed on M ...

. In 2003, he was the first overall pick of Alaska Aces in the 2003 PBA draft.

Amateur career

In 2000, Cortez debuted for the De La Salle Green Archers. With him, veterans

Ren-Ren Ritualo Florendo "Renren" De Ramos Ritualo Jr. (born June 14, 1979) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and current assistant coach. He last played for the Shopinas.com Clickers of the Philippine Basketball Association and is currently ...

and later

Mark Cardona Mark Reynan Mikesell Cardona (born November 13, 1981) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Biñan Tatak Gel of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and Pilipinas Super League (PSL). From a successful college career wi ...

, the Green Archers won two of the three UAAP titles from 2000 to 2002. He also played in the PBL for the ICTSI Archers, a team composed mostly of DLSU players alongside then

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 James Carlos Agravante Yap Sr. (born February 15, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known by his nickname Big Game James, he is widel ...

. With the two playing together, ICTSI almost won a PBL title in 2001 only to be defeated by the veteran-laiden Shark Energy Drink. By 2002, Cortez's performance had quickly led to him being considered the top prospect for the PBA. He was included in the mythical 5 in the 2000 and 2002 UAAP season.

Professional career

After the 2002 UAAP season, Cortez applied for the 2003 PBA draft and was quickly drafted by the Alaska Aces as the top overall pick. By then, he was considered as the successor to

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, ...

as the team's next big star at the point guard position. However, he struggled in his first season in the pros with inconsistent performances due to

Tim Cone Earl Timothy Cone (born December 14, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who leads Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Philippine men's national team. He is the most accomplished coa ...

triangle offense The triangle offense is an offensive strategy used in basketball. Its basic ideas were initially established by Hall of Fame coach Sam Barry at the University of Southern California. His system was further developed by former Houston Rockets and ...

system, and the emphasis on

Ali Peek Albert Henry "Ali" Peek (born February 13, 1975) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player who played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). During his playing days, he played mostly at the center position, although ...

Don Allado Don Carlos Armand Crisostomo Allado (born June 10, 1977) is a Filipino basketball coach, former professional player, and politician. A power forward, he played college basketball for the De La Salle Green Archers, where he won back-to-back U ...

and fellow rookie Brandon Cablay. Despite this development, he was a member of the 2003 PBA Invitational Champions defeating the

Coca-Cola Tigers Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

. He lost race to fellow point guard

Jimmy Alapag Jim Olmedo Alapag (born December 30, 1977) is a Filipino-American professional basketball coach and former player. He serves as the player development coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is nicknamed ...

of the

Talk 'N Text Phone Pals Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct * ...

in the Rookie of the Year. By the

2004–05 PBA season The 2004–05 PBA season was the 30th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. Instead of the usual calendar year of February–December, the league changed its schedule to the current October–July format, while limiting the number of ...

, he was starting to increase his role as Alaska added young players such as

Sonny Thoss Joachim Gunther "Sonny" Thoss (born December 7, 1981) is a German-Filipino former professional basketball player. He played his entire career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) with the Alaska Aces, where his jersey number is retire ...

, and veterans

Reynel Hugnatan Reynel Frances T. Hugnatan (born November 3, 1978) is a Filipino professional basketball player who plays for the San Juan Knights franchise of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and Pilipinas Super League (PSL). He also serves as ...

and

Jeffrey Cariaso Jeffrey Joaquin Cariaso (born September 12, 1972) is a Filipino-American professional basketball coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He also played for variou ...

. The next season, he played probably his best season in the league, playing in a consistent level while forming a two-man tandem with

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 ...

as Alaska almost went to the PBA Philippine Cup finals, but they lost to the eventual champion Purefoods Chunkee Giants 4–3. He missed most of the 2006–07 PBA Philippine Cup following a season-ending ACL injury in the third game of the conference. On March 19, 2008, he was traded along with big man

Ken Bono Karl Kenneth Odani Bono (born June 19, 1984) is a Filipino basketball player who plays for the Mindoro Tamaraws of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He played collegiate basketball for the Adamson Soaring Falcons in the Unive ...

to the

Magnolia Beverage Masters ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

(now renamed back to

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 ...

) for

LA Tenorio Lewis Alfred Vasquez Tenorio (born July 9, 1984) is a Filipino professional basketball player and an assistant coach for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is also the head coach of the Gilas You ...

and

Larry Fonacier Larry Alexander Nacua Fonacier (born May 13, 1982) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He previously served as the team manager for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted fourteent ...

. In 2009, after recuperating from his second ACL injury in his pro career, he received the Comeback Player of the Year award for his role in the 2009 PBA Fiesta Conference title of the San Miguel Beermen. His second conference title and third overall in the PBA. On June 11, 2010, he played his last game with Air21 as he was traded after that game for Ginebra's

Billy Mamaril John Billy San Luis Mamaril (born June 25, 1980) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player who last played for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He plays the forward and center positions. ...

. Although he helped Alaska and San Miguel win a single title each, the Cool Cat did not win a crown with the Barangay Ginebra. But he recorded his first triple-double in his pro career with the Kings on Game 3 of the 2012 PBA Commissioner's Cup Quarterfinals against B-Meg Llamados when he registered 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists earning Best Player of the Game honors. On November 7, 2012, he was traded back to the Express, in exchange for rookie Yousef Taha, where he reunited with coach

Franz Pumaren Franz Santos Pumaren (born February 5, 1962) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and coach who is serving as the House of Representatives of the Philippines, representative for Quezon City's Quezon City's 3rd congressional distr ...

and

Cholo Villanueva Pocholo "Cholo" Iñigo Villanueva (born November 24, 1982) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He currently serves as the head coach for the Tanduay Rum Masters. He previously served as the assistant coach for the Bay Area Drag ...

— all members of the 2001 La Salle four-peat squad. On September 6, 2013, he was traded to

Meralco Bolts The Meralco Bolts is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team began in 2010 after the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) acquired the PBA franchise of the Sta. Lucia Realtors. The team is one of thre ...

in exchange for the rights of

Asi Taulava Pauliasi Taulava (born March 2, 1973) is a Tongan-born Filipino former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Standing 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) tall and weighing 245 pounds (111 kg), Taulava is con ...

, who at that time was coming off a successful campaign in the ASEAN Basketball League with

. On August 7, 2015, Cortez and James Sena were traded by Meralco to the

Blackwater Elite The Blackwater Bossing is a professional basketball team owned by Ever Bilena, Inc. that is playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) beginning in the 2014–2015 season. The franchise started as one of the founding teams in the ...

in exchange for Larry Rodriguez, who was also traded by the Bolts to the

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters The TNT Tropang 5G is a professional basketball team currently owned by Smart Communications, a subsidiary of the PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since 1990. The ...

via the Elite in exchange for

. On September 1, 2016, he was traded by the

to the

GlobalPort 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 N ...

in exchange for Ronald Pascual.

PBA career statistics

RealGM.com

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , 2003 Alaska Aces season, Alaska , 56 , , 34.9 , , .401 , , .262 , , .782 , , 4.4 , , 4.2 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , 11.4 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, 57 , , 34.4 , , .391 , , .382 , , .774 , , 4.1 , , 5.5 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 12.3 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 46 , , 33.4 , , .408 , , .313 , , .708 , , 4.0 , , 4.8 , , .9 , , .2 , , 12.8 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 23 , , 27.7 , , .437 , , .270 , , .716 , , 3.4 , , 3.6 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 11.3 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left ,

, rowspan=2, 55 , , rowspan=2, 29.6 , , rowspan=2, .416 , , rowspan=2, .349 , , rowspan=2, .765 , , rowspan=2, 3.8 , , rowspan=2, 4.4 , , rowspan=2, 1.0 , , rowspan=2, .4 , , rowspan=2, 10.8 , - , align=left ,

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

, - , align=left , , align=left ,

San Miguel San Miguel, Spanish for Saint Michael, may refer to: Places Argentina *San Miguel Partido *San Miguel, Buenos Aires * San Miguel, Catamarca * San Miguel, Corrientes * San Miguel, La Rioja *San Miguel Arcángel, a Volga German colony in Adolfo Al ...

, 19 , , 20.4 , , .392 , , .328 , , .679 , , 2.6 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .3 , , 8.9 , - , align=left rowspan=3, , align=left ,

, rowspan=3, 49 , , rowspan=3, 23.4 , , rowspan=3, .429 , , rowspan=3, .325 , , rowspan=3, .782 , , rowspan=3, 3.4 , , rowspan=3, 3.4 , , rowspan=3, .9 , , rowspan=3, .2 , , rowspan=3, 9.4 , - , align=left , Air21 , - , align=left , Barangay Ginebra , - , align=left , , align=left , Barangay Ginebra , 57 , , 23.4 , , .396 , , .340 , , .735 , , 3.1 , , 2.9 , , .6 , , .3 , , 6.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , Barangay Ginebra , 45 , , 27.9 , , .395 , , .414 , , .740 , , 3.9 , , 3.8 , , .9 , , .2 , , 9.4 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , Barangay Ginebra , rowspan=2, 42 , , rowspan=2, 28.1 , , rowspan=2, .414 , , rowspan=2, .338 , , rowspan=2, .644 , , rowspan=2, 4.4 , , rowspan=2, 4.3 , , rowspan=2, 1.3 , , rowspan=2, .2 , , rowspan=2, 9.3 , - , align=left , Air21 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Meralco The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco (, , stylized in uppercase), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 3 ...

, 15 , , 31.6 , , .481 , , .404 , , .793 , , 3.3 , , 5.3 , , .7 , , .4 , , 11.5 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 41 , , 26.3 , , .374 , , .316 , , .594 , , 2.8 , , 2.9 , , .8 , , .1 , , 6.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , Blackwater , 27 , , 31.9 , , .410 , , .304 , , .851 , , 3.7 , , 4.3 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 9.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , GlobalPort , 36 , , 23.3 , , .444 , , .388 , , .778 , , 3.2 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .1 , , 6.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , Blackwater , 23 , , 14.0 , , .380 , , .350 , , .692 , , 2.0 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .1 , , 3.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , Blackwater , 30 , , 16.4 , , .426 , , .237 , , 1.000 , , 1.9 , , 1.7 , , .9 , , .0 , , 3.1 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 621 , , 27.5 , , .408 , , .338 , , .747 , , 3.5 , , 3.7 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 9.3

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortez, Mike 1980 births Living people Air21 Express players Alaska Aces (PBA) draft picks Alaska Aces (PBA) players American men's basketball players Barako Bull Energy players Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Basketball players from San Jose, California Blackwater Bossing players De La Salle Green Archers basketball players Filipino men's basketball players Meralco Bolts players NorthPort Batang Pier players Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Point guards San Miguel Beermen players American sportspeople of Filipino descent Blackwater Bossing coaches Filipino men's basketball coaches American men's basketball coaches 21st-century Filipino sportsmen