| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1967-01-25)January 25, 1967 (age 58) San Teodoro, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | UM |
| PBA draft | 1989: 1st round, 2nd overall pick |
| Selected by thePurefoods Hotdogs | |
| Playing career | 1989–2006 |
| Position | Power forward |
| Number | 11, 8 |
| Career history | |
| 1989–1991 | Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs |
| 1992–1996 | Swift/Sunkist |
| 1996–1998 | San Miguel Beermen |
| 1999–2001 | Pop Cola 800s/Panthers |
| 2002–2006 | Red Bull Thunder/Barako |
| 2006 | Pagadian Explorers |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Nelson Asaytono (born January 25, 1967) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who played forPurefoods,Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola,San Miguel Beer, andRed Bull in thePBA during his 17-year career.
Asaytono played at theUniversity of Manila under the tutelage of former proLoreto Tolentino, his coach at UM Hawks.[1] His first national stint was part of the RP Youth team in Manila's 9th ABC Youth Championships. He became a member of the national team that same year in 1987 under coachJoe Lipa.[2] Asaytono also played for coachDerrick Pumaren at Magnolia Ice Cream in the PABL and won three championships.[3][4]
Asaytono was drafted as the 2nd overall pick by thePurefoods Hotdogs in1989.[5] He played three seasons for the ball club that had most of his former national teammates:Jojo Lastimosa,Alvin Patrimonio,Jerry Codiñera,Glenn Capacio, andDindo Pumaren. With Patrimonio as the starting forward, he mostly would come off the bench. He won two championships at Purefoods. In his final season as a Tender Juicy Hotdog in 1991, he had notable performances during the All-Filipino finals against Diet Sarsi.
In late 1991, Asaytono was traded by Purefoods to Swift in exchange for first-round picks in 1994 and 1995.[6] He joined the list of PBA millionaires as he was signed to a lucrative pact by the RFM franchise. For two seasons with Swift, Asaytono made it to the mythical five selection and a decent run at the Most Valuable Player (MVP) plum. In 1993, he was second in the statistical race but would up third after the polls in a frustrated bid for the most coveted award.[7] With Vergel Meneses' first entire season with Swift in 1994, Asaytono could only make it to the mythical second-team selection but still performed well, averaging 18.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 65 games. In 1995, his team came close to winning aGrand Slam, winning two titles that season, but only got third place in theGovernors' Cup.[8]
After winning four championships with Swift/Sunkist, Asaytono was traded to theSan Miguel Beermen, his former team in the amateurs, in April 1996 for one-time MVP Renato Agustin.[9]
Asaytono's trade to San Miguel proved to be the turning point of his career. He became the go-to guy in CoachRon Jacobs's rotation and its franchise player.[10] In 1997, he became one of the forerunners for the MVP award, but he again came short of former teammate Alvin Patrimonio.[11] Although he lost the MVP race, he led the league in scoring.
When the team drafted future MVPDanny Ildefonso in the 1998 season, his minutes were again reduced, but still, he led the team in scoring.[12] He led the Beermen to the finals twice in All Filipino and Commissioner's Cup in that season but came up short on both occasions to theAlaska Milkmen.[13] A year later, whenJong Uichico took over the coaching reins from Jacobs, he was relegated to the bench and was eventually traded to his former team, thePop Cola 800s (together withWilliam Antonio) for Dwight Lago, Boybits Victoria, andNic Belasco.[9]
Asaytono's second stint Pop Cola was a forgettable one, as he started to slow down as he was still at the bench. He spent his last four seasons with theRed Bull Barako until the 2005-06 season.
On April 7, 2005, he passed Crispa greatPhilip Cezar for the fifth spot on the all-time scoring list after tallying 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting.[14] Currently, he is fifth in the PBA all-time scoring list with 12,268 total points in 796 career games, behind onlyRamon Fernandez,Abet Guidaben,Alvin Patrimonio, andAtoy Co.[15]
Before retiring, he had a brief stint with the Pagadian Warriors of theNational Basketball Conference (NBC).[16] He retired in 2006.[5]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Correct as of the 2005-06 season[4]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Purefoods | 56 | 19.7 | 0.526 | 0.222 | 0.832 | 4.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 11.7 |
| 1990 | Purefoods | 53 | 21.2 | 0.554 | 0.250 | 0.802 | 4.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 14.1 |
| 1991 | Purefoods | 54 | 22.8 | 0.554 | 0.143 | 0.842 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 15.6 |
| 1992 | Swift | 69 | 35.8 | 0.560 | 0.515 | 0.825 | 8.2 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 22.4 |
| 1993 | Swift | 68 | 35.9 | 0.569 | 0.276 | 0.792 | 7.7 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 19.3 |
| 1994 | Swift | 65 | 33.1 | 0.553 | 0.266 | 0.751 | 7.2 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 18.6 |
| 1995 | Sunkist | 68 | 26.3 | 0.574 | 0.222 | 0.801 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 14.0 |
| 1996 | Sunkist/San Miguel | 51 | 32.6 | 0.497 | 0.346 | 0.779 | 6.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 15.9 |
| 1997 | San Miguel | 61 | 40.7 | 0.431 | 0.290 | 0.813 | 7.1 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 23.1 |
| 1998 | San Miguel | 65 | 32.0 | 0.438 | 0.278 | 0.728 | 5.7 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 14.6 |
| 1999 | San Miguel/Pop Cola | 23 | 29.2 | 0.421 | 0.171 | 0.778 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 11.8 |
| 2000 | Pop Cola | 23 | 32.7 | 0.447 | 0.323 | 0.764 | 6.3 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 17.0 |
| 2001 | Pop Cola | 49 | 20.1 | 0.400 | 0.242 | 0.829 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 8.4 |
| 2002 | Red Bull | 22 | 9.4 | 0.489 | 0.308 | 0.600 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 3.2 |
| 2003 | Red Bull | 38 | 14.0 | 0.511 | 0.419 | 0.671 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 7.5 |
| 2004–05 | Red Bull | 53 | 16.5 | 0.458 | 0.238 | 0.810 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 7.6 |
| 2005–06 | Red Bull | 2 | 8.5 | 0.143 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Career | 820 | 27.5 | 0.512 | 0.284 | 0.794 | 5.5 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 15.0 |
Asaytono has a daughter, Kim Arielle.[17]
Asaytono continued to play in exhibition games after he retired. In 2012, he participated in an exhibition match with fellow PBA legends against older NBA All-Stars.[18] He also became a building contractor, building basketball courts and gyms.[19]
In 2020, Asaytono suffered a heart attack.[5] He was confined in the ICU of a hospital inGeneral Trias, Cavite, for four days and was discharged several days later.[20] His former teammates, rivals, and even the PBA helped pay for his hospital expenses.[citation needed]