Christian Karl Hermoso Standhardinger (born July 4, 1989) is a Filipino-German professionalbasketball player who last played for theTerrafirma Dyip of thePhilippine Basketball Association (PBA).[1] He has won fourPBA championships, twoPBA Best Player of the Conference Awards, and onePBA Finals MVP Award.
Born and raised in Germany, Standhardinger started his career in the2. Basketball Bundesliga. He then moved to the United States to playcollege basketball for theNebraska Cornhuskers andHawaii Rainbow Warriors. After goingundrafted in the2014 NBA draft, he returned to Germany where he was namedProA Player of the Year during his stint withRasta Vechta. He then played in theASEAN Basketball League forHong Kong Eastern.
In the2017 PBA draft, he was selected first overall by theSan Miguel Beermen, with whom he won the2019 Philippine andCommissioner's Cups. He was then traded toNorthPort and was named Best Player of the Conference in the2019 Governors' Cup. In 2021 he was traded toBarangay Ginebra San Miguel, winning the2021 Governors' and2022–23 Commissioner's Cups, and was named Finals MVP in the latter. He won his second Best Player of the Conference Award in the2023 Governors' Cup.
Standhardinger represented thePhilippines national team from 2017 to 2023. He played in the2017 FIBA Asia Cup and2018 Asian Games and won gold medals in threeSEA Games (2017, 2019, and 2023). He also played in the2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup. Despite being born to a Filipino mother, Standhardinger is classified byFIBA as anaturalized player, since he acquired his Philippine passport after he turned 16 years old.
In 2024, Hardinger married Denielle Magno inPalawan.[2]
Standhardinger was born on July 4, 1989, inMunich,[3] in thenWest Germany to aFilipino mother. His mother, Elizabeth Santos Hermoso traces her roots to the town ofAngono,Rizal. Growing up in Germany, Standhardinger's maternal grandfather, Boy Hermoso, who played in the Philippines' CYMCA basketball championship in the 1950s introduced him to the sport of basketball.[4]
Standhardinger began his first 2 years of college basketball atNebraska. During his freshman season, he had to sit out the first 15 games due toNCAA's ruling since he played for a professional team in Germany before heading to the United States for college.[5] He averaged 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in 16 games as a freshman. During his sophomore year, Standhardinger was suspended by his coachDoc Sadler after playing only 6 games into the season for academic reasons.[6] Standhardinger eventually left the team. He continued his junior and senior years playing forHawaii.[7]
He started his professional career in theErdgas Ehingen/Urspringschule in theProA of2. Basketball Bundesliga in 2006. He played for the Urspring until 2009.[8][9][10]
Christian Standhardinger went undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft making him an unrestricted free agent.[11]
Standhardinger signed a contract withMitteldeutscher BC of theBasketball Bundesliga (BBL).[12] In his first season, he was selected as a reserve for the BBLAll-Star Game.[13]
On 2015, Standhardinger returned toProA and signed with theSC Rasta Vechta during offseason where he won his first MVP award.[14]
Standhardinger signed a contract withHong Kong Eastern of theASEAN Basketball League as their Heritage import.[15] On December 3, 2017, Standhardinger scored 40 points and pulled down 17 rebounds winning over Mono Vampire, 112-105.[16]
On October 29, 2017, Standhardinger was selected 1st overall in the2017 PBA draft by theSan Miguel Beermen.[17] He missed the entire2017–18 PBA Philippine Cup while he played out his contract with the Hong Kong Eastern in the Asean Basketball League.[18] On May 9, 2018, Standhardinger played his first game with the Beermen during their2018 PBA Commissioner's Cup opener against theMeralco Bolts. San Miguel lost the game 93-85. Standhardinger posted four points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in his debut.[19]
With his frequent use of brute strength and barreling plays toward the basket, he has been dubbed as "The Bulldozer".[20]
On October 14, 2019, Standhardinger was traded to theNorthPort Batang Pier in exchange forMoala Tautuaa.[21]
On March 5, 2021, Standhardinger was traded to theBarangay Ginebra San Miguel in exchange forGreg Slaughter.[22] On January 5, 2022, Standhardinger signed a three-year contract extension with Barangay Ginebra.[23]
On July 13, 2024, Standhardinger, along withStanley Pringle and a 2023 first-round pick, was traded to theTerrafirma Dyip forIsaac Go,Stephen Holt, and a 2023 first-round pick.[24] He played in six games for Terrafirma at the2024 Governors' Cup before he was sidelined by an injury.[25]
He did not play at the2024–25 Commissioner's Cup. In November 2024, Terrafirma announced that Standhardinger is retiring from the PBA.[25][26]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | MPG | Minutes per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage |
| 3FG% | 3-point field-goal percentage | 4P% | 4-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 |
As of the end of 2024–25 season[27]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | 4P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | San Miguel | 27 | 26.8 | .559 | .000 | — | .657 | 9.3 | 1.5 | .8 | .3 | 16.1 |
| 2019 | San Miguel | 58 | 24.8 | .541 | .000 | — | .639 | 6.9 | 1.4 | .9 | .2 | 12.3 |
| NorthPort | ||||||||||||
| 2020 | NorthPort | 10 | 37.5 | .494 | .333 | — | .494 | 12.0 | 3.8 | 1.3 | .1 | 19.9 |
| 2021 | Barangay Ginebra | 36 | 35.3 | .516 | — | — | .531 | 9.4 | 2.6 | .7 | .1 | 14.6 |
| 2022–23 | Barangay Ginebra | 57 | 32.4 | .558 | .000 | — | .474 | 8.7 | 4.0 | .7 | .2 | 15.3 |
| 2023–24 | Barangay Ginebra | 34 | 38.9 | .505 | .167 | — | .513 | 10.2 | 5.0 | .6 | .4 | 19.2 |
| 2024–25 | Terrafirma | 6 | 34.8 | .535 | .000 | — | .478 | 8.7 | 3.2 | .8 | .3 | 16.3 |
| Career | 228 | 31.5 | .530 | .105 | — | .547 | 8.8 | 3.0 | .8 | .2 | 15.3 | |
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | Nebraska | 16 | — | 15.4 | .409 | .375 | .783 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 8.1 |
| 2010–11 | Nebraska | 6 | — | 17.7 | .463 | .000 | .760 | 5.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 9.5 |
| 2011–12 | Hawaii | 32 | — | 30.1 | .510 | .333 | .644 | 7.9 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 15.8 |
| 2012–13 | Hawaii | 31 | — | 31.9 | .474 | .277 | .768 | 8.4 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 18.1 |
| Career | 85 | — | 27.1 | .482 | .301 | .725 | 7.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 14.7 | |
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In 2007, Standhardinger played for the national under-18 team of Germany.[28]
Standhardinger is eligible to play for thePhilippines but only as a naturalized player since he acquired his Philippine passport after he became 16 years old.[4] In June 2017, Standhardinger joined the national men's basketball team of thePhilippines.[29] He played with the team at the2017 William Jones Cup and the2017 FIBA Asia Cup.[30]
AfterAndray Blatche pulled out for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup due to security concerns over the militant situation in the host countryLebanon,[31] Standhardinger replaced him as the Philippine team's naturalized player.[32]
Standhardinger played with the Philippine team at the2017 Southeast Asian Games inKuala Lumpur,Malaysia.[29] They won the gold medal after beating Indonesia 94-55, Standhardinger scored 11 points in the gold medal game.[33]
In June 2018, Standhardinger suited up for thePhilippines for theFIBA 3x3 World Cup which the country hosted despite a lingering knee injury.[34] They finished the tournament at 11th place.
On August 5, 2018, Standhardinger was selected to be a part of thePhilippine team for the2018 Asian Games played between August 14 to September 1, 2018.[35] They finished the tournament at 5th place.
Weeks after the2018 Asian Games, Standhardinger suited up for the revamped Philippine team underCoach Yeng Guiao. On September 13, 2018, Standhardinger had 30 points and 12 rebounds against Iran for hisFIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers debut.[36]
On May 20, 2023, Standhardinger announced his retirement with the national team after participating in the2023 SEA Games which was considered his last game.[37]
Philippines squad | |||||||||||||||||||
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