Joachim Gunther "Sonny" Thoss (born December 7, 1981) is a German-Filipino former 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 ...

player. He played his entire career in 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) with the Alaska Aces, where his jersey number is retired.

Early life and education

Joachim Thoss was born on December 7, 1981, in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

to a German father and to a Filipina mother. His father, Joachim Thoss Sr. was an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

patrol guard who patrolled the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

before it fell and is a carpenter who is involved in construction projects in Papua New Guinea. The younger Thoss' mother, Jesusa Marticio, is from

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

. He attended Port Moresby High School. Basketball competitions in Papua New Guinea are rare; Thoss only represented his high school in one-day tournaments. He moved to Australia in 1999 to attend

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

Semi-professional career

After Thoss moved to Australia played for the Cairns Marlins of the

Australian Basketball Association The Australian Basketball Association (ABA) was a semi-professional basketball competition in Australia. The competition had five leagues under its banner during the 2000s operating as conferences: South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL ...

. He trained under

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The S ...

assistant coach,

Aaron Fearne Aaron C. Fearne (born May 30, 1974) is an Australian basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Charlotte 49ers men's basketball, Charlotte 49ers men's team of the American Athletic Conference. He served as the ...

. During his Marlins stint he was named as Most Improved Player in 2001 and was named as part of the league's under-23 squad.

Professional career

He was the 5th overall pick in the

2004 PBA draft The 2004–05 PBA season, 2004 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Basketball Association draft, rookie draft was an event at which teams drafted players from the amateur ranks. It was held on January 16, 2004 at the Glorietta Mall ...

selected by the Alaska Aces and he was also the tallest rookie picked in that class. In his early years, Sonny was the backup center for the Aces behind the dominant big men

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 ...

and E.J. Feihl in Alaska's rotation. But in his later years, Thoss eventually became Alaska's starting big man and become one of the team's top players. In the 2007 Fiesta Conference, he won his first championship. In the 2009–10 Philippine Cup finals, Thoss and the Aces were swept by the Purefoods TJ Giants. The Aces were able to bounce back in that year's Fiesta Conference finals, by defeating the San Miguel Beermen in five games. In 2011, he was awarded the PBA Sportsmanship Award. In 2012, he and Alaska finished with a 10-22 record. In the 2012–13 Philippine Cup, the Aces started the season with two straight losses. But the Aces were able to get their first win of the season despite Thoss suffering from a bum stomach against the

Barako Bull Energy Cola The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fiesta C ...

. Despite having zero points, he had six rebounds and four blocks. From there, the Aces went on a four-game winning streak. In the 2013 Commissioner's Cup, he earned Player of the Week honors for the week of March 4–10. He then missed several games during the Commissioner’s Cup due to a bad back. But once the playoffs began, the 31-year-old veteran center helped the top-seeded Aces to victories over the

Air21 Express Air21 Express may refer to * Barako Bull Energy, Philippine basketball team named as "Air21 Express" from 2005 to 2009, and from 2010 to 2011 * Air21 Express (2012–2014) The Air21 Express was a professional basketball team in the Philippine B ...

in the quarterfinals, before dethroning the

San Mig Coffee Mixers The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, San Miguel Food and Beverage, I ...

following a 3–1 series win in the semifinals. He raised his game further in the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, averaging 14 points and close to 10 rebounds, while playing a huge defensive role in neutralizing Barangay Ginebra import Vernon Macklin. The Aces won the title that conference, as he claimed Finals MVP. He was also on the Mythical Second Team and All-Defensive Team that season. In the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

– The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

14 Philippine Cup, Thoss grabbed 11 rebounds in a win over San Mig Coffee. Some games later, he had a career-high 30 points in an overtime loss to the Talk N' Text Tropang Texters. The Aces failed to defend their Commissioner's Cup title that year. He was named to the Mythical Second Team and the All-Star team for that season. After the season, he, together with

JVee Casio Joseph Evans "JVee" D. Casio (born September 1, 1986) is a Filipino basketball player for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted first overall by the Powerade Tigers in 2011 PBA draft. Early life Ca ...

and

Cyrus Baguio Cyrus Marata Baguio (born August 19, 1980) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Valenzuela Classic of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He also formerly played in the Philippine Basketball Associ ...

, re-signed with the Aces. In the 2014–15 Philippine Cup finals, Thoss matched up with

June Mar Fajardo June Mar Sotto Fajardo (; born November 17, 1989) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is also known by his nickname "The Kraken" for his extraordinary size a ...

, where the Beermen beat the Aces in seven games. They matched up again in the 2015–16 Philippine Cup finals, from Game 5 up to the end of the series. San Miguel won that series despite Alaska holding a 3–0 series lead at first. He struggled in that series. At age 35, he had a conference-high 15 points in a win over the Rain or Shine Elastopainters during the 2017 Commissioner's Cup. He also had five rebounds and two assists in that game, giving him Player of the Week honors. He was once again an all-star that year and the following year as well. In 2018, he also participated in the Obstacle Challenge during All-Star Week. The Aces also made the

for the Governors' Cup, where they lost to the

Magnolia Hotshots The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migu ...

in six games. In 2019, he scored 21 points against the

NLEX Road Warriors The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by Manila North Tollways Corporation, NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014 ...

to send the Aces to the Philippine Cup playoffs. On May 17, 2021, Coach

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 ...

announced that Thoss had retired.

National team career

In 2009, Thoss was named to the Powerade Team Pilipinas for the 2009 FIBA Asia Men's championship. He averaged 13 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.0 block in the first three games of the tournament, but those numbers dipped to just 3.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in the last six games. For that performance, he wasn't considered for the 2010 Asian Games and 2011 FIBA Asia Championships in Wuhan, China. In 2012, Thoss was on the Gilas team that won the gold medal at the Jones Cup. At first, he wasn't allowed to play in the

FIBA Asia Cup The FIBA Asia Cup (formerly the FIBA Asia Championship and ABC Championship) is an international basketball tournament which takes place every four years between the men's national teams of Asia and Oceania. Through the 2015 edition, the t ...

that year, as Alaska team owner

Wilfred Uytengsu Wilfred Steven "Fred" B. Uytengsu Jr. is a Filipino businessman. As of August 2017, ''Forbes'' lists him as the 35th richest in the Philippines with a net worth of $240 million. Personal life Uytengsu was born in November 11, 1961 in Cebu City ...

insisted that he practice with the Aces instead after a dismal record the previous season. But eventually, he was able to participate in the tournament, where Gilas finished fourth. The following year, Thoss was named to the Gilas pool for the

2013 FIBA Asia Championship The 2013 in sports, 2013 FIBA Asia Cup, FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that served as the qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. The tourna ...

. But once again, he was not allowed from joining Gilas practices. Alaska and the national team were able to reach a compromise, which was that Thoss was only allowed to observe practices. He also had to miss a training camp in Lithuania, as he had to have therapy for his back. He was not chosen for the final lineup for that tournament. In 2015, Thoss was the backup big man for naturalized player Andray Blatche during the

2015 FIBA Asia Championship The 2015 FIBA Asia Championship was the 28th and last edition of the FIBA Asia Championship in men's basketball in Asia. It was organised by FIBA Asia. At the FIBA Asia Congress held in Doha, Qatar, the Central Board awarded the hosting rights t ...

Honors

On November 12, 2015, he was named as one of Alaska's 30 Greatest Players. On March 6, 2022, Thoss' number was retired by the Aces. That would be the last number retired by the Alaska franchise, as they were acquired by

Converge ICT Converge ICT Solutions Inc., doing business as Converge (also known as ComClark in Pampanga), is a telecommunication service provider in the Philippines. It operates fiber optic broadband networks, Internet Protocol television (marketed as Co ...

PBA career statistics

Real GM

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left , , align=left , 2004–05 Alaska Aces season, Alaska , 67 , , 21.8 , , .468 , , .000 , , .659 , , 5.6 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .4 , , 6.3 , - , 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 ...

, 49 , , 21.0 , , .475 , , — , , .661 , , 5.4 , , .8 , , .2 , , .6 , , 5.7 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 53 , , 25.1 , , .576 , , — , , .709 , , 6.2 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .6 , , 10.1 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 47 , , 30.3 , , .537 , , .000 , , .732 , , 8.3 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , .7 , , 9.6 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 47 , , 27.0 , , .548 , , .500 , , .595 , , 6.5 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 1.0 , , 8.6 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 58 , , 24.8 , , .535 , , — , , .658 , , 5.6 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , .7 , , 8.3 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 42 , , 32.2 , , .491 , , .667 , , .634 , , 9.7 , , 2.2 , , .2 , , 1.2 , , 11.6 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 35 , , 36.0 , , .455 , , .000 , , .727 , , 8.3 , , 2.1 , , .4 , , 1.2 , , 12.5 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 53 , , 30.6 , , .463 , , .000 , , .619 , , 6.3 , , 1.9 , , .4 , , .7 , , 10.0 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 43 , , 32.2 , , .466 , , .000 , , .650 , , 7.6 , , 2.4 , , .4 , , .8 , , 11.1 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 50 , , 22.7 , , .444 , , .000 , , .633 , , 4.6 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .5 , , 7.4 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 60 , , 22.8 , , .493 , , .364 , , .687 , , 5.0 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .6 , , 8.3 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 28 , , 21.4 , , .409 , , .200 , , .568 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .4 , , 7.2 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 42 , , 17.0 , , .423 , , .154 , , .640 , , 3.3 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , .1 , , 5.1 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 38 , , 17.0 , , .450 , , .111 , , .590 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , 6.4 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 712 , , 25.4 , , .485 , , .186 , , .661 , , 6.0 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .7 , , 8.5

References

External links

Thoss' Player Profile
at PBA-Online! {{DEFAULTSORT:Thoss, Sonny 1981 births Living people Alaska Aces (PBA) players Centers (basketball) James Cook University alumni Sportspeople from the National Capital District (Papua New Guinea) Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Alaska Aces (PBA) draft picks Papua New Guinean people of Filipino descent Philippine Basketball Association players with retired numbers 21st-century Filipino sportsmen