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

, 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

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

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

. On December 20, Canaleta signed with Taichung Suns of the

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 ,

, 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