| Blackwater Bossing | |
|---|---|
| Title | Assistant coach |
| League | PBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1980-11-10)November 10, 1980 (age 45) |
| Nationality | Filipino / American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Carson (Carson, California) |
| College | De La Salle |
| PBA draft | 2003: 1st round,1st overall |
| Drafted by | Alaska Aces |
| Playing career | 2003–2019 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Coaching career | 2023–present |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 2003–2008 | Alaska Aces |
| 2008–2010 | San Miguel Beermen |
| 2010 | Air21 Express |
| 2010–2012 | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel |
| 2012–2013 | Air21 Express |
| 2013–2015 | Meralco Bolts |
| 2015–2016 | Blackwater Elite |
| 2016–2017 | GlobalPort Batang Pier |
| 2017–2019 | Blackwater Elite |
Coaching | |
| 2023–present | Blackwater Bossing (assistant) |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Mike Salonga Cortez (born November 10, 1980) is a Filipino-American professionalbasketball coach and former player. He is an assistant coach for theBlackwater Bossing of thePhilippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played for eight franchises during his career in the PBA. Cortez gained prominence in the amateur ranks for theDe La Salle Green Archers in theUAAP and the ICTSI Archers in thePhilippine Basketball League. In 2003, he was the first overall pick ofAlaska Aces in the2003 PBA draft.
In 2000, Cortez debuted for theDe La Salle Green Archers. With him, veteransRen-Ren Ritualo and laterMark Cardona, the Green Archers won two of the three UAAP titles from 2000 to 2002.
He also played in the PBL for the ICTSI Archers, a team composed mostly of DLSU players alongside thenUniversity of the East starJames Yap. With the two playing together, ICTSI almost won a PBL title in 2001 only to be defeated by the veteran-laiden Shark Energy Drink.
By 2002, Cortez's performance had quickly led to him being considered the top prospect for the PBA. He was included in the Mythical 5 in the 2000 and 2002 UAAP season.
After the 2002 UAAP season, Cortez applied for the2003 PBA draft and was quickly drafted by theAlaska Aces as the top overall pick. By then, he was considered as the successor toJohnny Abarrientos as the team's next big star at the point guard position, and signed a₱8,700,000 three-year contract.[1]
However, he struggled in his first season in the pros with inconsistent performances due toTim Cone'striangle offense system, and the emphasis onAli Peek,Don Allado and fellow rookieBrandon Cablay. Despite this development, he was a member of the2003 PBA Invitational Champions defeating theCoca-Cola Tigers.
He lost race to fellow point guardJimmy Alapag of theTalk 'N Text Phone Pals in the Rookie of the Year.
By the2004–05 PBA season, he was starting to increase his role as Alaska added young players such asSonny Thoss, and veteransReynel Hugnatan andJeffrey Cariaso.
The next season, he played probably his best season in the league, playing in a consistent level while forming a two-man tandem withWillie Miller as Alaska almost went to the PBA Philippine Cup finals, but they lost to the eventual championPurefoods Chunkee Giants 4–3.
He missed most of the2006–07 PBA Philippine Cup following a season-ending ACL injury in the third game of the conference.
On March 19, 2008, he was traded along with big manKen Bono to theMagnolia Beverage Masters (now renamed back toSan Miguel Beermen) forLA Tenorio andLarry Fonacier.
In 2009, after recuperating from his second ACL injury in his pro career, he received the Comeback Player of the Year award for his role in the 2009 PBA Fiesta Conference title of the San Miguel Beermen. His second conference title and third overall in the PBA.
On June 11, 2010, he played his last game with Air21 as he was traded after that game forGinebra'sBilly Mamaril.
Although he helped Alaska and San Miguel win a single title each, the Cool Cat did not win a crown with the Barangay Ginebra. But he recorded his first triple-double in his pro career with the Kings on Game 3 of the 2012 PBA Commissioner's Cup Quarterfinals against B-Meg Llamados when he registered 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists earning Best Player of the Game honors.
On November 7, 2012, he was traded back to the Express, in exchange for rookieYousef Taha, where he reunited with coachFranz Pumaren,Ren-Ren Ritualo andCholo Villanueva — all members of the 2001 La Salle four-peat squad.
On September 6, 2013, he was traded toMeralco Bolts in exchange for the rights ofAsi Taulava, who at that time was coming off a successful campaign in theASEAN Basketball League withSan Miguel Beermen.[2]
On August 7, 2015, Cortez andJames Sena were traded by Meralco to theBlackwater Elite in exchange forLarry Rodriguez, who was also traded by the Bolts to theTalk 'N Text Tropang Texters via the Elite in exchange forJimmy Alapag.[3]
On September 1, 2016, he was traded by theBlackwater Elite to theGlobalPort Batang Pier in exchange forRonald Pascual.
Cortez is married to Joy Refuerzo.[4] They have two sons:Jacob and Mikey.[5] Both sons committed to playing for DLSU, beginning withSeason 88.[6]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | 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 | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Alaska | 56 | 34.9 | .401 | .262 | .782 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 1.5 | .4 | 11.4 |
| 2004–05 | Alaska | 57 | 34.4 | .391 | .382 | .774 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 1.1 | .3 | 12.3 |
| 2005–06 | Alaska | 46 | 33.4 | .408 | .313 | .708 | 4.0 | 4.8 | .9 | .2 | 12.8 |
| 2006–07 | Alaska | 23 | 27.7 | .437 | .270 | .716 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 1.4 | .1 | 11.3 |
| 2007–08 | Alaska | 55 | 29.6 | .416 | .349 | .765 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 1.0 | .4 | 10.8 |
| Magnolia | |||||||||||
| 2008–09 | San Miguel | 19 | 20.4 | .392 | .328 | .679 | 2.6 | 2.3 | .5 | .3 | 8.9 |
| 2009–10 | San Miguel | 49 | 23.4 | .429 | .325 | .782 | 3.4 | 3.4 | .9 | .2 | 9.4 |
| Air21 | |||||||||||
| Barangay Ginebra | |||||||||||
| 2010–11 | Barangay Ginebra | 57 | 23.4 | .396 | .340 | .735 | 3.1 | 2.9 | .6 | .3 | 6.8 |
| 2011–12 | Barangay Ginebra | 45 | 27.9 | .395 | .414 | .740 | 3.9 | 3.8 | .9 | .2 | 9.4 |
| 2012–13 | Barangay Ginebra | 42 | 28.1 | .414 | .338 | .644 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 1.3 | .2 | 9.3 |
| Air21 | |||||||||||
| 2013–14 | Meralco | 15 | 31.6 | .481 | .404 | .793 | 3.3 | 5.3 | .7 | .4 | 11.5 |
| 2014–15 | Meralco | 41 | 26.3 | .374 | .316 | .594 | 2.8 | 2.9 | .8 | .1 | 6.6 |
| 2015–16 | Blackwater | 27 | 31.9 | .410 | .304 | .851 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 1.0 | .2 | 9.9 |
| 2016–17 | GlobalPort | 36 | 23.3 | .444 | .388 | .778 | 3.2 | 2.1 | .9 | .1 | 6.9 |
| 2017–18 | Blackwater | 23 | 14.0 | .380 | .350 | .692 | 2.0 | 1.7 | .6 | .1 | 3.3 |
| 2019 | Blackwater | 30 | 16.4 | .426 | .237 | 1.000 | 1.9 | 1.7 | .9 | .0 | 3.1 |
| Career | 621 | 27.5 | .408 | .338 | .747 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 1.0 | .2 | 9.3 | |
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