Richard Alvarez (born October 30, 1980) is a Japanese-born Filipino former professional basketball player and coach. He last played for the

Kia Picanto The Kia Picanto is a city car that has been produced by the South Korean car manufacturer, Kia, since 2003. Other names of the car include Kia Morning ( ko, 기아 모닝, translit=Gia Moning) in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan (first two generati ...

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). He was the first overall pick of 2004 PBA Draft by the

Shell Turbo Chargers The Shell Turbo Chargers were a Philippine Basketball Association team from 1985 to 2005. It won four PBA championships, two from 1998 to 1999. Shell sold its franchise to PBL team Welcoat Dragons, Welcoat Paints in February 2006. Aside from bei ...

. He is currently an assistant coach for the

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters The Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters is a professional basketball team owned by Phoenix Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which debuted in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the 2015–16 PBA season, 2016 2016 PBA Commis ...

of the PBA.

Early life and college career

Alvarez grew up in

Yokosuka, Japan is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

where he first played for the Nile C. Kinnick High School Basketball Varsity Squad. Shortly, after finishing high school, he flew to the Philippines and attended at

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...

where he became a pivotal part of the

Blue Eagles The Blue Eagles were the helicopter aerobatic team of the British Army Air Corps. It was one of only eight professional helicopter teams in the world, along with the Royal Navy Black Cats, Sarang of the Indian Air Force, the Scorpion aeroba ...

basketball squad. At Ateneo, he was known for his tenacity and hustle plays. Thus, as a sophomore in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, he won the coveted UAAP MVP award, beating the likes of King Archer

Mike Cortez Mike Salonga Cortez (born November 10, 1980) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player. He last played for the Blackwater Elite of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Cortez gained prominence in the amateur ranks for ...

, fellow Blue Eagle

Enrico Villanueva Jose Enrico Pascual Villanueva (born June 23, 1980) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He last played for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Amateur career Villanueva first played for the A ...

and UST's

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 ...

. The following year in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he won his second UAAP MVP plum. However, the team still failed to win the championship as the

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 ...

established their dynasty in the collegiate ranks courtesy of winning their fourth-straight UAAP championship. Finally, in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, with a stellar supporting cast composed of

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 ...

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 ...

Wesley Gonzales Wesley Olan Gonzales (born July 27, 1980 in Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. Gonzales last played for the Barako Bull Energy Cola before retiring after a stellar college career and a 10-year stint in the P ...

and

Gec Chia George Christian T. Chia (born August 19, 1979), better known as Gec Chia, is a Filipino people, Filipino business executive and former professional basketball player. Amateur career Chia initially wanted to play tennis, but due to the growing ...

, he anchored the Blue Eagles to win the title against the heavily favored Green Archers, their first title since 1988. While in the amateur ranks, he also played for several teams 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 ...

, such as Hapee-Nenaco/FASH and Pioneer Insurance. He was also a member of the Philippine national team that competed in the 2003 SEA Games.

PBA career

Alvarez was drafted first overall by

in the 2004 PBA Draft, ahead of former college rival

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 ...

. He played his first PBA game on the team's second game after former coach John Moran benched him in the first game. He thought that Alvarez was not yet ready to play, but when

Leo Austria Leovino R. Austria (born March 14, 1958), better known as Leo Austria, is a Filipino former professional basketball player and the current head coach of the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Playing career Aust ...

took over the team's coaching duties, his game status went up and won the Rookie of the Year honors at season's end. In his rookie season, he averaged 8.8 points and 6.4 rebounds in 72 games. As the Shell franchise was about to take a leave of absence from the league, he was traded to the Alaska Aces along with

Tony dela Cruz Anthony Bryan Davis dela Cruz (born August 24, 1978) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player and coach. He played majority of his career for the Alaska Aces of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), where he also serv ...

,http://www.hoo.ph/2010/09/18/no-home-for-poor-rich/ where he struggled in his only appearance with the team during the 2005-06 PBA Fiesta Conference. Prior to the start of the

2006 PBA Philippine Cup 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, he was traded to 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 ...

in exchange for two 1st round picks, reuniting him with some of his former teammates in college. In 2008, he was traded again, this time to Purefoods in exchange for Barako's 2011 first-round pick. The following year, he was involved into a blockbuster multi-player deal that sent him to the Ginebra Kings. In 2010, he was traded again, along with

Doug Kramer Douglas Rimorin Kramer (born July 10, 1983) is a Filipino former basketball player. He played for eight teams in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). College career Kramer set a career-high 19 rebounds along with 3 blocks and 16 points ...

, to

Air21 Air21 Airlines was a short-lived United States airline based in Fresno, California, led by Mark Morro, founded by David Miller and co-founded by David J. VanderLugt. The airline operated five Fokker F28 Fellowship 64-passenger twin engine jet ...

in exchange for

Yancy de Ocampo Yancy Rozal de Ocampo (born November 11, 1980) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He is the elder brother of Ranidel de Ocampo. He is a 12-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) champion. College career Yancy started pla ...

. As his contract with Air21 expired, he signed 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 ...

prior to start of the

2010–11 PBA season The 2010–11 PBA season was the 36th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. It started on October 3, 2010

. Initially, he was only signed to a one-conference contract. However, with his valuable contributions off the bench, he stayed with the Tropang Texters until the

2012–13 PBA season The 2012–13 PBA season was the 38th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. The season formally opened on September 30, 2012, and finished October 25, 2013. This was the longest in PBA history with 13-month span. The season continued to ...

. In his last year with the team, he only averaged career-low numbers of 0.4 point, 1.1 rebounds and 0.2 assist in just 20 games.

Kia

After his stint with Talk 'N Text, he found himself without a team for the entire 2013–14 season. However, when the news broke out that three franchises KIA, Blackwater, and NLEX were accepted as expansion teams in the PBA, he immediately joined the tryouts of Team Kia, and he's out to prove he can still compete. His competitiveness and renewed fervor rewarded him of a spot at

Kia Sorento The Kia Sorento ( ko, 기아 쏘렌토, translit=Gia Sorento) is a mid-size crossover SUV (formerly a body-on-frame SUV until 2009) produced since 2002 by South Korean manufacturer Kia. First generation (BL; 2002) 2002–2006 Debuted in ...

for the upcoming

2014–15 PBA season The 2014–15 PBA season was the 40th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. The season formally opened on October 19, 2014 and finished on July 17, 2015. The league continued to use the three-conference format, starting with the Philip ...

Personal life

Alvarez began dating R&B singer,

Kyla Kyla may refer to: *Kyla (given name), including a list of people with the name ** Kyla (Filipino singer) (born 1981), Filipino R&B singer **Kyla (British singer) Kyla Reid ( Smith; born 22 September 1983) is a British house music singer in the ...

(real name Melanie Calumpad) in 2005. After six years of dating, he proposed in January 2011. Their wedding took place on November 28, 2011. Their son, Toby Elsiah, was born on May 5, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Rich 1980 births Living people Alaska Aces (PBA) players Barako Bull Energy players Barako Bull Energy Boosters players Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Filipino men's basketball coaches Filipino men's basketball players Terrafirma Dyip players People from Yokosuka, Kanagawa Rain or Shine Elasto Painters coaches Power forwards (basketball) Shell Turbo Chargers players Magnolia Hotshots players TNT Tropang Giga players Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball players Southeast Asian Games medalists in basketball Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Philippines men's national basketball team players Competitors at the 2003 Southeast Asian Games Shell Turbo Chargers draft picks