Mike Salonga Cortez (born November 10, 1980) is a Filipino-American 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. He last played for 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 began as one of the founding teams in the PB ...

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 ...

(PBA). Cortez gained prominence in the amateur ranks for the

De La Salle Green Archers The De La Salle Green Archers (also known simply as the Green Archers) are the men's varsity teams representing De La Salle University in the Philippines. The women's varsity teams are generally referred to as the De La Salle Lady Archers. The s ...

in the UAAP 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 Ma ...

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

2003 PBA draft The 2003 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event at which teams drafted players from the amateur ranks. It was held on January 12, 2003 at the Glorietta Activity Center at Makati. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 San Mig ...

Amateur career

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

Ren-Ren Ritualo Florendo R. "Renren" 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 an assi ...

and later

Mark Cardona Mark Reynan Mikesell Cardona (born November 13, 1981) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Boracay Islanders of the Pilipinas Super League. From a successful college career with the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, ...

, the Green Archers won two of the three UAAP titles from 2000–2002. 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 ( fil, Pamantasan ng Silangan), also known as UE, is a leading private university located in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1946, business tycoon Lucio Tan acquired the university in 1990. UE was once labeled as the ...

star

James Yap James Carlos Agravante Yap Sr. (born February 15, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known by his nickname Big Game James, he had played for ...

. 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

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, bec ...

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 is the head coach of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is the most accomplished coach in PBA history with t ...

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 retired professional basketball player who played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). During his playing days, he played mostly at the center position, although he ...

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 UA ...

and fellow rookie

Brandon Cablay Brandon Lee Kaui Cablay (born March 1, 1978) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He started his career in the PBA in 2003 as a member of the Aces. He would win his first PBA championship in the 2003 PBA Invitational C ...

. Despite this development, he was a member of the 2003 PBA Invitational Champions defeating 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 Atlanta ...

. He lost in the Rookie of the Year race to fellow point guard

Jimmy Alapag Jim Olmedo Alapag (born December 30, 1977) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He serves as an assistant coach for the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League. He is nicknamed "The Mighty Mouse" and "The Captain". Early lif ...

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 ...

. By the 2004–05 PBA season, 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 for the Meralco Bolts of the Philippine Basketball Association. He was picked 9th overall by the Coca-Cola Tigers in the 2003 PBA draft. PBA caree ...

and

Jeffrey Cariaso Jeffrey Joaquin Cariaso is a Filipino-American coach and retired professional basketball player. He is the former head coach of the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He also played for various PBA teams, mostly ...

. 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 The 2006–07 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup or known as the 2006–07 Talk 'N Text PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the first conference of the 2006–07 PBA season. It started on September 28, 2006, in Gu ...

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 last played for the TNT KaTropa of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played collegiate basketball for the Adamson Soaring Falcons in the University At ...

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'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

(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 the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...

) for

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

and

Larry Fonacier Larry Alexander Nacua Fonacier (born May 13, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted fourteenth overall by the Red Bull Barako in the 2005 PBA ...

. 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 Yousef S. Taha (born July 8, 1988) is a Filipino-Palestinian professional basketball player for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was selected 11th overall in the 2012 PBA draft by the Air21 Express. Prof ...

, where he reunited with coach

Franz Pumaren Franz Santos Pumaren (born December 5, 1963) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and coach. He played college ball for De La Salle University before playing professional basketball in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is ...

and

Cholo Villanueva Pocholo "Cholo" Iñigo Villanueva (born November 24, 1982) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and head coach for the Batangas City Embassy Chill of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the De La Salle Lady Archers ...

— 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 three ...

in exchange for the rights of

Asi Taulava Pauliasi Taulava (born March 2, 1973) is a Tongan-born Filipino professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is the oldest active player in the league. Standing 6 ft 9 in (2 ...

, who at that time was coming off a successful campaign in the

ASEAN Basketball League The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong/Macau, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), one tea ...

with

. On August 7, 2015, Cortez and

James Sena James Ryan R. Sena (born August 31, 1988) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Blackwater Bossing of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Sena played collegiate basketball at Jose Rizal University, JRU JRU Heavy Bombers, H ...

were traded by Meralco to the

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

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters The TNT (cellular service), TNT Tropang Giga 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 Associat ...

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 Nor ...

in exchange for

Ronald Pascual Ronald Lozada Pascual (born June 23, 1988) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Pampanga Delta of the NBL–Philippines. He was drafted third overall by the Barako Bull Energy in the 2014 PBA draft. Early life ...

PBA career statistics

''Correct as of the end of 2019 season''Player Profile
at RealGM

Season-by-season averages

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

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, 56 , , 34.9 , , .401 , , .262 , , .782 , , 4.4 , , 4.2 , , 1.5 , , .4 , , 11.4 , - , align=left , , align=left , Alaska , 57 , , 34.4 , , .391 , , .382 , , .774 , , 4.1 , , 5.5 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 12.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , Alaska , 46 , , 33.4 , , .408 , , .313 , , .708 , , 4.0 , , 4.8 , , .9 , , .2 , , 12.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , Alaska , 23 , , 27.7 , , .437 , , .270 , , .716 , , 3.4 , , 3.6 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 11.3 , - , align=left , , align=left , Alaska /

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'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

, 55 , , 29.6 , , .416 , , .349 , , .765 , , 3.8 , , 4.4 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 10.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel , 19 , , 20.4 , , .392 , , .328 , , .679 , , 2.6 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .3 , , 8.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , San Miguel / Air21 (first era) /

Barangay Ginebra The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The most popular team in the league, it is owned by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (formerly, La Tondeña Distillers, Inc.), a subsidia ...

, 49 , , 23.4 , , .429 , , .325 , , .782 , , 3.4 , , 3.4 , , .9 , , .2 , , 9.4 , - , 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 , , align=left , Barangay Ginebra / Air21 (second era) , 42 , , 28.1 , , .414 , , .338 , , .644 , , 4.4 , , 4.3 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 9.3 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

Meralco The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), 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 22 cities and 89 munic ...

, 15 , , 31.6 , , .481 , , .404 , , .793 , , 3.3 , , 5.3 , , .7 , , .4 , , 11.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , Meralco , 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 , 35 , , 23.3 , , .441 , , .337 , , .778 , , 3.1 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .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 , 620 , , 26.7 , , .412 , , .329 , , .752 , , 3.4 , , 3.6 , , .9 , , .2 , , 9.0

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 Citizens of the Philippines through descent