Hector Calma (born March 2, 1960) is a 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 (appr ...

player. At 5 feet and 8 inches, he played at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by ...

position and was most notably associated with the

San Miguel Beer San Miguel Beer refers to San Miguel Pale Pilsen, a Filipino pale lager produced by San Miguel Brewery (a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation). Established in San Miguel, Manila in 1890 by the original San Miguel Brewery (renamed San Miguel Co ...

team 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 franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

Collegiate and pre-PBA career

Calma first became known on the collegiate basketball scene as a

of the

Adamson Falcons Adamson may refer to: * Adamson (surname), list of people * ''Adamson'', taxonomic author abbreviation for British botanist Robert Stephen Adamson (1885–1965) * Adamson (automobile), an English automobile model * ''Adamson'' (comic strip) or '' ...

, which played in the UAAP. Calma was a member of the Adamson team which in 1977 captured for the first time the UAAP Men's Basketball Championship, a feat which the university has yet to accomplish again. Calma attained further prominence as a member of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

which qualified for several international tournaments during the 1980s, under the patronage of

Danding Cojuangco Eduardo "Danding" Murphy Cojuangco Jr. (June 10, 1935 – June 16, 2020) was a Filipino businessman and politician. He was the chairman and CEO of San Miguel Corporation, the largest food and beverage corporation in the Philippines and So ...

and the guidance of coach Ron Jacobs. He was at the helm of the 1982 squad that captured the Asian Youth Championship of that year, beating China in the finals. In 1985, with Calma starting at point guard, the national team unexpectedly captured the

William Jones Cup The R. William Jones Cup (), also known as the Jones Cup, is an international basketball tournament organized by the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) held annually since 1977 in Taiwan. It was named in honor of basketball promote ...

, beating out in the process a highly regarded American team composed of NCAA Division I players and coached by

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mo ...

Gene Keady Lloyd Eugene Keady (born May 21, 1936) is an American basketball coach. He is best known for his 25 years serving as the head men's basketball coach at Purdue University in Indiana. In his tenure leading the Boilermakers from 1980 to 2005, he went ...

. The following year, the Philippine national team would win the

Asian Basketball Confederation Championship 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 tourna ...

for the first time since 1973. During that period, his widely reported relationship with the swimmer (and future TV host)

Christine Jacob Christine Sotto Jacob-Sandejas (born April 30, 1967) known professionally as Christine Jacob, is a Filipina swimmer, actress, TV host, and newscaster. Early life She was born in Manila, Philippines to a German American father George Jacob an ...

also kept his name in the public eye. Calma eventually married Ines Ortiz, a former employee of the San Miguel public relations office.

Professional career

In 1985, the

, under the banner of Northern Consolidated Cement, competed as a guest team in the PBA, winning the 1985 PBA Reinforced Conference. This marked Calma's first appearance in the PBA, albeit as an amateur playing with a guest team. Calma's formal professional basketball career began at the age of 26 in the

1986 PBA Open Conference The 1986 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Open Conference was the third and final conference of the 1986 PBA season The 1986 PBA season was the 12th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Board of governors Executive comm ...

when he, along with several of his national teammates, were absorbed by

when it rejoined the PBA under the name Magnolia Cheese after a brief period of disbandment. Within a year, the renamed

, coached by

Norman Black Norman Augustus Black (born November 12, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the CBA, NBA, and PBA. He's the current head coach for the Meralco Bolts. He has since settled in the Philippines. He is also ...

, would win its first PBA Championship with Calma starting at point guard. From 1987 to 1989, San Miguel would win 6 of 7 PBA conference championships, including the coveted

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in 1989. Calma was not known for his scoring, but his skills as a playmaker sparked the SMB offense during those storied years. He was also voted 3X Finals MVP on their Grand Slam success. In a team that featured explosive scorers such as

Samboy Lim Avelino Borromeo Lim Jr. (born April 1, 1962), better known as Samboy "The Skywalker" Lim, is a retired Filipino professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association and many time national player in the 1980s and 90s. As a ...

, Ricardo Brown, and

Ramon Fernandez Ramon Sadaya Fernandez (; born October 3, 1953) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and current commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission. Fernandez won four PBA Most Valuable Player awards and a record 19 PBA titles. F ...

, Calma's playmaking skills was highly regarded. As a result, Calma was named three times to the PBA Mythical First Team, in 1987, 1988, and 1989. During those 3 years, Calma posted average of 10.6 points (on 50.3% shooting) and 5.3 assists per game. Yet as the 1990 official PBA Annual noted, "Numbers just can't determine this little guy's true worth - he just creates so many offensive situations which most often draw the line between victory and defeat." After the

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

allowed in 1989 the participation of professional basketball players in international competitions, Calma was recruited twice to rejoin the Philippine National Team. Calma played in the 1990 and 1994 teams that participated in the Asian Games, the 1990 team capturing the silver medal.

Retirement

Calma's career faded in the 1990s with the emergence of younger point guards such as

Ronnie Magsanoc Ronald "Ronnie" Magsanoc (born April 11, 1966) is a Filipino coach, basketball analyst, and retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was known for his moniker "The Point Laureate". Collegiate car ...

and

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, bec ...

. Adding to this were the injuries he sustained both from his collegiate and professional years. Alongside teammate

, he decided to leave basketball as both players announced their retirement before the start of the 1995 season of the PBA. After his retirement, Calma became involved in the front office of the

Coca-Cola Tigers Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

and the San Miguel Beermen. He served as the team manager of the Beermen until the end of 2013. In 2000, Calma was named to the

PBA's 25th Anniversary All-Time Team The 40 Greatest Players in Philippine Basketball Association History is a set of players chosen in 2000 and 2015 to commemorate the founding of the Philippine Basketball Association. The first set, known as the 25 Greatest Players in Philippine ...

. He was joined in that honor by two of his teammates from the SMB Grand Slam team,

and

Personal life

His son, Andres, is a motorsports rider, having won a championship title in the Vios Cup Season 2 in 2015.

References

External links

PBA 25 Greatest

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calma, Hector 1960 births Living people Asian Games medalists in basketball Asian Games silver medalists for the Philippines Basketball players at the 1990 Asian Games Basketball players at the 1994 Asian Games Basketball players from Metro Manila Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippine Basketball Association executives Philippine Basketball Association players with retired numbers Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Point guards San Miguel Beermen players Sportspeople from Manila Adamson Soaring Falcons basketball players