Ricardo "Ric-Ric" Marata (December 21, 1964 – April 17, 2010) was a Filipino former professional basketball player 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 franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

Basketball career

Ric-ric played three years for

Southwestern University Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwestern o ...

under coach Bobby Inoferio and was discovered by the Cebu ballclub Mama's Love. After four years of playing in the PABL and winning two championships with

RFM-Swift Hotdogs RFM-Swift Hotdogs is a former basketball team of the now defunct Philippine Basketball League in which the ballclub played in the league's inaugural season in 1983 until the disbandment of the franchise in 1996. The Company, Republic Flour Mills (R ...

, Marata turn pro in 1989 and was drafted by the Alaska Milkmen, together with his long-time backcourt partner

Boy Cabahug Elmer "Boy" Cabahug (born June 1, 1964 in Cebu City, Philippines) is a retired Filipino professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association and the former head coach of the University of the Visayas Green Lancers varsity team. ...

. Ric-ric plays back-up point guard to Frankie Lim at Alaska for two seasons. He was acquired by Diet Sarsi, his former amateur ballclub, in a pre-season trade in 1991, he won one championship with the RFM franchise before being shipped to Sta.Lucia Realtors beginning the second conference of the 1993 PBA season. As a Realtor, Marata got his break during the Governors Cup semifinals when starter Gerald Esplana was unable to complete the season due to an injury. Marata was surprisingly dropped by Sta.Lucia at the end of the season. After another forgettable season, this time with Shell in 1994 where he lasted two conferences with the Turbo Chargers as reliever to Ronnie Magsanoc, Ric-ric got his third tour of duty with the RFM ballclub now named Sunkist Orange Juicers, he won two straight championships with the team. He stayed on for two seasons and played alongside his brother Romulo Marata in his final year in the PBA. Ric-ric found no takers by the end of the 1997 PBA season. Marata played a total of nine seasons and averaged 6.8 points, 2.9 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 0.96 steals over 397 career games.

Personal life

Ric-ric is the fifth of eleven kids by parents Nehemias Marata and Aning Rilosas. He is the uncle of present PBA star

Cyrus Baguio Cyrus Marata Baguio (born August 19, 1980) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He also formerly played in the Philippine Basketball Associati ...

Death

In the early morning of April 17, 2010 in New York, Marata died due to complications from intestinal surgery. He is survived by wife Chato and children Ricardo Jr., Janika and Nikko.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marata, Ric-Ric 1964 births 2010 deaths Filipino men's basketball players Alaska Aces (PBA) players Basketball players from Lanao del Norte People from Iligan Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Point guards Pop Cola Panthers players Shell Turbo Chargers players Sta. Lucia Realtors players SWU Cobras basketball players Alaska Aces (PBA) draft picks Filipino emigrants to the United States