Rommel Niño T. "KG" Canaleta (born February 12, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the
Biñan Tatak Gel
The Biñan Tatak Gel (also known as Biñan Tatak Gel–Beast Motorcycle Tires GameX for sponsorship reasons) is a Filipino professional basketball team based in Biñan, Laguna (province), Laguna. The team primarily competes in the Maharlika Pili ...
of the
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams.
Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...
(MPBL) and
Pilipinas Super League
The Pilipinas Super League (PSL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines.
History
The Pilipinas Super League (PSL) was founded in December 2021 by former officials the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, namely its former CEO Ro ...
(PSL). He is also a former
assistant coach
An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete.
History
The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...
for the
Taichung Suns of the
T1 League
The T1 League ( zh, T1聯盟) was a professional basketball league in Taiwan. It was the third Taiwanese professional basketball league after the now-defunct Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA; 1994–1999) and P. League+ (PLG; founded in 2020). ...
. He played majority of his career 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 Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...
(PBA). A 6-6 athletic forward, he is fondly called by nicknames like ''KG'', ''The Big Ticket'', and ''The Da Vinci of Dunk''. He won the
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
,
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
,
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
,
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
and
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
PBA Slam Dunk Contests and led the
Air21 Express Air21 Express may refer to
* Barako Bull Energy, Philippine basketball team named as "Air21 Express" from 2005 to 2009, and from 2010 to 2011
* Air21 Express (2012–2014)
The Air21 Express was a professional basketball team in the Philippine B ...
to a third-place finish in the
2006 PBA Philippine Cup.
Professional career
PBA
He made a serious run for the Rookie of the Year honors with an impressive Philippine Cup campaign where he averaged 16.2 points per game, No. 1 among rookies and seventh in the tournament among locals. But a so-so performance in the Fiesta Conference and two finals stints of
Red Bull
Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...
made
Larry Fonacier a no-brainer for the award.
Canaleta is undoubtedly one of the biggest attractions in the league with his jaw-dropping, never-seen slams by a local player. Canaleta was a back-to-back-to-back winner of the Slam Dunk competition, both by convincing fashion. He was ranked no. 2 in scoring among rookies during his rookie year with 9.4 points per outing. Canaleta was the first Philippine Basketball Association player to become a 5-time PBA Slam Dunk Champion. On
2011 PBA All-Star Weekend, he dunked on 3 men in the final round against
Kelly Williams
Kelly Williams (born February 7, 1982) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang 5G in the PBA. He played collegiate basketball at Oakland University, an NCAA Division I school in the United States, and he als ...
to win his 4th PBA Slam Dunk Champion Award. On
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, Canaleta did it again after dunking on 3-men, including 6-foot-9
Asi Taulava to win his 5th Slam Dunk Award.
He was also awarded by the PBA to be the Mr. Quality Minutes Player in 2010.
On December 5, 2012, Canaleta scored a career-high 41 points in their 112-93 win against
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 N ...
. Canaleta was named the PBA Press Corps' Player of the Week for the period April 8–14, 2013 after dropping 37 points anchored on 9-18 shooting from 3-point land in their come-from-behind win over Petron, 95-91.
On January 20, 2014, Canaleta was traded by Air21 to
Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters
The TNT Tropang 5G 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 Association (PBA) since 1990.
The ...
for
Sean Anthony,
Eliud Poligrates, and a
2016 first-round pick.
On October 9, 2014, Canaleta was traded from Talk 'N Text to NLEX in a three-team trade that involved
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 started as one of the founding teams in the ...
.
On August 25, 2015, Canaleta was traded by NLEX to
Mahindra Enforcer
The Terrafirma Dyip is a professional basketball team playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The team is owned by Terrafirma Realty Development Corporation and originally played under its affiliate company Columbian Autocar Cor ...
in a three-team trade that also involved Talk 'N Text.
On March 29, Canaleta was traded to 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 started as one of the founding teams in the ...
in exchange for
Dylan Ababou and
James Forrester.
On January 10, 2018, while playing for the
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 thre ...
, Canaleta became the 87th member of the elite 5,000 points club, 83rd among locals, in the Bolts 103-98 loss to the
Alaska Aces.
On October 25, 2019, Canaleta, along with
Mike Tolomia and two second round draft picks in 2020 and 2022, was traded to 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 started as one of the founding teams in the ...
for
Allein Maliksi and
Raymar Jose. This was his second stint with the Elite.
Taiwan
On March 19, 2022, Canaleta signed with
Taichung Wagor Suns of the
T1 League
The T1 League ( zh, T1聯盟) was a professional basketball league in Taiwan. It was the third Taiwanese professional basketball league after the now-defunct Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA; 1994–1999) and P. League+ (PLG; founded in 2020). ...
. On December 20, Canaleta signed with
Taichung Suns of the
T1 League
The T1 League ( zh, T1聯盟) was a professional basketball league in Taiwan. It was the third Taiwanese professional basketball league after the now-defunct Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA; 1994–1999) and P. League+ (PLG; founded in 2020). ...
as assistant coach. On December 23,
Taichung Suns registered Canaleta as import player. On February 10, 2023,
Taichung Suns cancelled the registration of Canaleta's playership.
PBA career statistics
''As of the end of 2021 season''
Real GM
Season-by-season averages
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , 2005–06 Air21 Express season, Air21
, 52 , , 21.0 , , .388 , , .304 , , .707 , , 3.8 , , .6 , , .3 , , .3 , , 9.4
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Air21
, 41 , , 25.8 , , .395 , , .331 , , .703 , , 5.8 , , .8 , , .4 , , .7 , , 11.9
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Air21
, 50 , , 23.5 , , .397 , , .332 , , .681 , , 3.2 , , 1.2 , , .5 , , .6 , , 10.4
, -
, align=left rowspan=2,
, align=left , Air21
, rowspan=2, 37 , , rowspan=2, 18.1 , , rowspan=2, .353 , , rowspan=2, .220 , , rowspan=2, .736 , , rowspan=2, 3.9 , , rowspan=2, .8 , , rowspan=2, .3 , , rowspan=2, .3 , , rowspan=2, 5.8
, -
, align=left , Purefoods
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Purefoods / B-Meg Derby Ace
, 58 , , 17.5 , , .379 , , .345 , , .596 , , 2.6 , , .9 , , .3 , , .4 , , 8.1
, -
, align=left rowspan=2,
, align=left , B-Meg Derby Ace
, rowspan=2, 43 , , rowspan=2, 20.0 , , rowspan=2, .374 , , rowspan=2, .342 , , rowspan=2, .804 , , rowspan=2, 3.7 , , rowspan=2, .5 , , rowspan=2, .4 , , rowspan=2, .5 , , rowspan=2, 8.0
, -
, align=left , Air21
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Barangay Ginebra
, 36 , , 17.2 , , .413 , , .364 , , .739 , , 3.3 , , .7 , , .2 , , .3 , , 8.7
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Air21
, 39 , , 30.6 , , .397 , , .369 , , .739 , , 5.3 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .6 , , 16.7
, -
, align=left rowspan=2,
, align=left , Air21
, rowspan=2, 48 , , rowspan=2, 23.8 , , rowspan=2, .388 , , rowspan=2, .351 , , rowspan=2, .769 , , rowspan=2, 4.1 , , rowspan=2, .7 , , rowspan=2, .5 , , rowspan=2, .2 , , rowspan=2, 10.2
, -
, align=left , Talk 'N Text
, -
, 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 partially as R-8 of the Metro Manila arterial road network, is a controlled-access highway that ...
, 36 , , 20.1 , , .382 , , .327 , , .762 , , 3.3 , , .6 , , .2 , , .1 , , 8.1
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Mahindra
, 32 , , 25.3 , , .425 , , .354 , , .841 , , 3.8 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .4 , , 11.7
, -
, align=left rowspan=2,
, align=left , GlobalPort
, rowspan=2, 36 , , rowspan=2, 23.5 , , rowspan=2, .372 , , rowspan=2, .347 , , rowspan=2, .745 , , rowspan=2, 4.1 , , rowspan=2, .9 , , rowspan=2, .4 , , rowspan=2, .4 , , rowspan=2, 8.4
, -
, align=left , Blackwater
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Meralco
The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco (, , stylized in uppercase), 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 3 ...
, 37 , , 19.4 , , .394 , , .374 , , .722 , , 3.7 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .3 , , 8.6
, -
, align=left rowspan=2,
, align=left , Meralco
The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco (, , stylized in uppercase), 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 3 ...
, rowspan=2, 25 , , rowspan=2, 12.7 , , rowspan=2, .436 , , rowspan=2, .429 , , rowspan=2, .833 , , rowspan=2, 2.0 , , rowspan=2, .9 , , rowspan=2, .2 , , rowspan=2, .2 , , rowspan=2, 6.6
, -
, align=left , Blackwater
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Blackwater
, 11 , , 25.4 , , .398 , , .347 , , .765 , , 4.3 , , .7 , , .2 , , .5 , , 11.7
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Blackwater
, 13 , , 16.0 , , .306 , , .190 , , .727 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , .2 , , .6 , , 4.6
, -class=sortbottom
, align=center colspan=2 , Career
, 594 , , 21.4 , , .390 , , .341 , , .723 , , 3.7 , , .8 , , .3 , , .4 , , 9.5
Awards
* Mr. Quality Minutes Award (2010)
* Five-time PBA Slam Dunk Champion (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012)
* PBA All Rookie First Team (2005–2006)
* Scored a record 38 Points in the PBA Rookie Game
* 2013 PBA Most Improved Player
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canaleta, KG
1982 births
Living people
Air21 Express players
Barako Bull Energy draft picks
Barako Bull Energy players
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players
Basketball players from Tarlac
Blackwater Bossing players
FIBA 3x3 World Tour players
Filipino expatriate basketball people in Taiwan
Filipino men's 3x3 basketball players
Filipino men's basketball players
Filipino people of African-American descent
Ilocano people
Kapampangan people
Magnolia Hotshots players
Meralco Bolts players
NLEX Road Warriors players
NorthPort Batang Pier players
People from Tarlac City
Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars
Power forwards
Small forwards
T1 League Asian imports
Terrafirma Dyip players
TNT Tropang 5G players
UE Red Warriors basketball players
Taichung Suns coaches
Filipino men's basketball coaches
Taichung Suns players
T1 League imports
21st-century Filipino sportsmen