Mark Reynan Mikesell Cardona (born November 13, 1981) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Boracay Islanders of the

Pilipinas Super League The Pilipinas Super League (PSL) is a professional basketball league in the Philippines. History The Pilipinas Super League (PSL) was founded in December 2021 by former officials of another league; the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup. It was estab ...

. From a successful college career with the

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...

(DLSU) Green Archers, Cardona was taken fifth overall by

Air21 Express The Air21 Express were a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) that debuted in the 2011–12 season. The team debuted as the Shopinas.com Clickers during the 2011–12 PBA Philippine Cup. In 2014, the fra ...

in the 2005 PBA draft. A five-time PBA All-Star, Cardona was the PBA scoring champion in and won the 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup and Finals MVP award with

Talk 'N Text TNT (formerly known as Piltel, Mobiline, Phone Pal, and still unofficially known as Talk 'N Text) is a cellular service of Smart Communications in the Philippines. By April 2000, Piltel launched its GSM brand, Talk 'N Text. Piltel also reporte ...

Early life

Cardona was born on November 13, 1981, at

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 425,758 people. Loca ...

, Metro Manila to Reynaldo Cardona and Griselda. The youngest of five children, Cardona got his elementary education from various schools, which include NAMEI Polytechnic Institute,

Jose Rizal College Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

, Isaac Lopez Elementary School, and a public school in

Cardona, Rizal Cardona, officially the Municipality of Cardona ( tgl, Bayan ng Cardona), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 50,143 people. Cardona is part of the 2nd Con ...

Amateur career

He spent most of high school at Carson High School in the United States where he finished Level 10, which did not qualify him for a diploma. Cardona eventually came back home to the Philippines and took the DECS (now DepEd) Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) to be eligible for admission to college. With the intent of using his basketball skills as a passport to a good college education, he walked in for a tryout with the

Green Archers basketball team. He played for La Salle's UAAP championship team of 2001. Despite several controversies and allegations, primarily regarding his residency and eligibility, Cardona went on to win the

University Athletic Association of the Philippines 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 Univers ...

Rookie of the Year award with the Green Archers in 2001. Cardona was also part of the UAAP 67th season Mythical Five and was named the Finals MVP for the same season. Cardona played for ICTSI-La Salle 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 ...

from 2002 to 2005, where he was awarded top rookie honors as PBL Top Newcomer. After ICTSI's departure from the league, Cardona joined Harbour Centre in the 2005 PBL Unity Cup, where he was named MVP of the conference. During his stint at the amateur PBL, he was consistently named to the Mythical Team and also received recognition as the league's Scoring Sensation award.

Professional career

2005 PBA draft

In August 2005, Cardona was picked fifth overall by the

during the 2005 PBA draft.

Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters (2005–2010)

Before the season started, he was eventually traded 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 ...

franchise. Despite a slow start in his rookie season, Cardona played significant minutes under

Derrick Pumaren Frederick "Derrick" S. Pumaren, better known on his nickname Manong Derrick, is a Filipino basketball coach who is currently the coach of the De La Salle Green Archers in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). He coached se ...

who replaced

Joel Banal Joel Banal (born February 6, 1958) is a retired Filipino professional basketball player, and former head coach in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is the former commissioner of the now-defunct Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League (P ...

as the team's head coach. In his sophomore year in the league, with a career-high of 38 points - resetting his previous 30+ career outputs three times within two weeks - Cardona proved to be every bit the explosive player that he is. To date, he is the only player to be named PBA Press Corps' Player of the Week seven times within one conference ( 2007 Fiesta Conference). As a confirmation of his explosiveness and a testament to his overall tenacity as a player, Cardona received the PBA Conference Best Player award for the 2007 Fiesta Conference. He was also an official nominee for the coveted Most Valuable Player award of the 2006-2007 season. In November 2008, Cardona once again reset his career statistics by tallying 42 points together with 6 rebounds to propel

over the

Red Bull Barako Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

. Cardona claimed that the feat sent a clear message that he deserved to be part of the Philippine National Team. Although he wasn't chosen to be part of the line-up, National Team coach Yeng Guiao was quick to point out that Cardona was considered “even if he did not score 42 points as he did against our team (Red Bull)." Cardona won his first (and only) championship as a professional basketball player via the 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup on February 11, 2009. Although losing on votes to the Alaska Aces' star

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 ...

for the Best Player of the Conference trophy, Cardona was awarded the PBA Finals Most Valuable Player honors for his remarkable output during the championship series.

Meralco Bolts (2010–2013)

On August 20, 2010, Cardona was traded by Talk 'N Text to its sister team and expansion team

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 of a first-round pick. Cardona played his first game for the Bolts on October 3, 2010, against the Baranggay Ginebra Kings. He recorded 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 33 minutes of play, including the game-winning teardrop.

Air21 Express / NLEX Road Warriors (2013–2016)

On October 14, 2013, he was traded by the Bolts to

in a complex three-team trade that also involved Cardona's former team

. In Air21, he was reunited with his former college coach at La Salle,

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 other former college teammates.

Personal life

On August 21, 2016, Cardona was rushed to the hospital following a drug overdose in an apparent suicide attempt. He was confined at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the University of Perpetual Help Hospital in Las Piñas after his vital signs stabilized. With his relationship with live-in partner Bianca reportedly on the rocks, he allegedly took a huge amount of prescription pills which he even posted on his Instagram account, which was later deleted. He was also placed in the injured reserved list by the team after injuring himself in an accident while riding an all terrain vehicle a few months prior the incident. On May 5, 2018, Cardona was arrested for allegedly injuring his live-in partner, Bianca Nicole Jackes, with a bladed weapon. Jackes sustained a stab wound on her left arm after being stabbed by Cardona during an argument around 5:30 AM.

PBA career statistics

''Correct as of September 27, 2016''Player Profile
at PBA-Online!

Season-by-season averages

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

, 37 , , 17.4 , , .482 , , .271 , , .698 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .1 , , 7.7 , - , align=left , , align=left , Talk 'N Text , 62 , , 30.8 , , .479 , , .378 , , .687 , , 4.4 , , 2.5 , , .7 , , .2 , , 18.1 , - , align=left , , align=left , Talk 'N Text , 37 , , 29.0 , , .490 , , .329 , , .722 , , 4.4 , , 3.3 , , .7 , , .2 , , 16.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , Talk 'N Text , 46 , , 33.1, , .448 , , .359 , , .664 , , 4.1 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 20.0 , - , align=left , , align=left , Talk 'N Text , 47 , , 31.5 , , .451 , , .312 , , .693 , , 3.8 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 17.1 , - , 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 ...

, 24 , , 35.3 , , .392 , , .290 , , .817 , , 5.0 , , 3.5 , , 1.1 , , .0 , , 18.7 , - , align=left , , align=left , Meralco , 40 , , 33.6 , , .470 , , .286 , , .688 , , 4.7 , , 2.6 , , .9 , , .2 , , 15.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , Meralco , 43 , , 27.2 , , .459 , , .325 , , .696 , , 3.6 , , 1.6 , , .7 , , .1 , , 12.1 , - , align=left , , align=left , Air21 , 37 , , 23.4 , , .388 , , .250 , , .759 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .1 , , 9.9 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

NLEX The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), signed as E1 of the Philippine expressway network, partially as N160 of the Philippine highway network, and R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a limited-access toll expressway that connects M ...

, 36 , , 25.1 , , .453 , , .264 , , .745 , , 4.7 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .1 , , 11.0 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

, 14, , 11.7 , , .471 , , .300 , , .667 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .6 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - , align=left , , align=left ,

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 ...

, 5 , , 14.9 , , .615 , , .667 , , .000 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .6 , , .0 , , 7.2 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 428 , , 28.1 , , .454 , , .322 , , .708 , , 4.0 , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , 14.5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardona, Mark 1981 births Living people Air21 Express players Basketball players from Metro Manila NorthPort Batang Pier players Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League players Meralco Bolts players NLEX Road Warriors players People from Mandaluyong Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Shooting guards TNT Tropang Giga players De La Salle Green Archers basketball players Barako Bull Energy draft picks Filipino men's 3x3 basketball players PBA 3x3 players