| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1990-10-30)October 30, 1990 (age 34) Manila, Philippines |
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Listed weight | 158 lb (72 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | La Salle Green Hills (Mandaluyong) |
| College | UP (2009–2010, 2013–2014) |
| PBA draft | 2016: 5th round, 24th overall pick |
| Selected by theTNT KaTropa | |
| Playing career | 2016–2020 |
| Position | Point guard /shooting guard |
| Number | 0, 3, 25 |
| Career history | |
| 2016 | Kaohsiung Truth |
| 2017 | Singapore Slingers |
| 2018 | Bacoor City Strikers |
| 2018 | Valenzuela Classic |
| 2019 | Bacolod Master Sardines |
Miguel Antonio "Mikee"Reyes (born October 30, 1990)[1] is a Filipino former professionalbasketball player who is apodcaster, media personality and sports analyst forOne Sports. He was selected 24th overall by theTNT KaTropa in the2016 PBA draft. He playedcollege basketball for theUP Fighting Maroons.
In college, Reyes was known for his scoring. He started playing for the UP Fighting Maroons inUAAP Season 72 in the year 2009. His college career was hampered with injuries and he had to sit out for 2 consecutive years, in 2011 and 2012, after playing in his first 2 UAAP seasons. In Season 76, he rejoined the roster and played in their opening game, but left the team and did not play for the rest of the season after a disagreement with their head coach. He returned the following season and helped the Maroons end their 27-game losing streak.
After being drafted by the KaTropa, he was not signed, which led him to play in other leagues such as theASEAN Basketball League (ABL) and theMaharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
He became anNCAA basketball analyst forABS-CBN in 2015[2] and forGMA Network when the league moved to the network in 2020, and then a basketball analyst forOne Sports. He was a sports presenter forFrontline Pilipinas from 2023 to 2024.[3]
Reyes grew up with both parents and his four sisters.[4] His father was a formerSan Beda Red Lion who introduced him to basketball at a young age. He started attending basketball camps while he was in prep atAteneo.
In high school, Reyes played forLa Salle Green Hills.[4] He had been cut from the high school varsity team of Ateneo.[5] In 2008, he led them in a 125-point blowout win over theMapúa Red Robins.[6] LSGH got as far as the semis in the playoffs, where they finished 4th.[7]
Reyes was recruited by La Salle, but decided to play for theUP Fighting Maroons instead, as the Maroons were underdogs at the time and hadn't won many games in the previous seasons.[4] UP head coach Aboy Castro likened him toJimmy Alapag due to his speed and good perimeter shooting.
In his rookie season, Reyes' season-high was 25 points in a win over theDLSU Green Archers, and he also had five rebounds and six assists in that win.[4] That would be the last win he played in until 2014.[8]
In 2010, Reyes had a new head coach inRicky Dandan as Castro had coached the team to a 0–14 record.[9][10] He missed two full seasons due to shoulder injuries.[11] He returned in 2013, where in the opening game against theAdamson Falcons, Dandan benched him in the second half despite him being the starting point guard.[12] He was then relegated to third team point guard and Dandan told him that the team "didn't need you to win".[13] This caused him to leave the team after just one game into the season.
After leaving UP, Reyes found himself playing in thePBA D-League as part ofBlackwater Sports.[11] After Dandan was fired midway throughSeason 76, he wanted to return to the Maroons. He returned to the lineup forSeason 77.[14] On August 9, 2014, he scored a career-high 28 points against the Falcons and sparked a 12–0 run in the third quarter that gave UP a lead as high as 24 points.[15] Although Adamson cut into the lead, UP still managed to pull off the win, ending a 27-game losing streak that had ongoing since 2012. This was the first win that he had played in since 2009.[8] A bonfire celebration was held atUP Diliman's Sunken Garden after the win.[15] The Maroons couldn't keep the momentum going in their next game, which they lost to theUE Red Warriors despite his 19 points on four triples.[16] He then had 14 points and 22 points in UP's next two losses, which were to theUST Growling Tigers and to DLSU respectively.[17][18] Against theAteneo Blue Eagles, he scored 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, but missed two free throws with less than a second remaining that could have given UP the upset win.[19] The Falcons got their revenge on them in the final game of the season, but the Maroons still finished with higher than them in the standings, as they had a bigger winning margin over them in their first meeting.[20] In January 2015, despite having one more playing year left, Reyes announced that he would not be returning to UP.[21]
Reyes played for the Pampanga Foton Tornadoes in theFilsports Basketball Association (FBA) in 2015, but it was during this time that he suffered an ACL tear.[22] He also played for them in the Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League (PCBL).[23]
Before applying for the PBA Draft, Reyes nearly became aMYX video jockey, but decided to pursue basketball.[24] He declared for the2016 PBA Draft four months in advance.[25] He was drafted by theTNT Katropa on the day of his birthday.[26] However, he was cut by the team and did not play for them.[27]
In 2016, Reyes was doing commentary for the ABL when he got the offer to play for theKaohsiung Truth in the ABL.[28] Kaohsiung then announced that he would be playing for them.[27] On a one-game deal, he had 14 points in a nine-point loss toAlab Pilipinas, which was an improvement as Kaohsiung had been losing by an average of 17 points before his debut.[29] His contract was not renewed after that game.[30]
In 2017, Reyes was signed by theSingapore Slingers for the2017 Merlion Cup to see if he could crack their roster for the2017–18 ABL season.[31] He didn't make the roster for that ABL season.[32]
After his stint in the ABL, Reyes returned to broadcasting and also became a personal trainer.[5][33] He also took an office job for only three months.[24] His fatherJonathan Reyes, who was coaching theBacoor City Strikers, recruited him to join him.[5][34] Since he had played for Kaohsiung even though he hadn't played in the PBA, he was classified as an ex-pro.[35] He had 17 points and 10 assists in a come from behind victory over thePasay Voyagers.[36] He then had a triple-double in a win over theCaloocan Supremos with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists.[37] His 15 assists also tied him withBobby Ray Parks for most assists in a single MPBL game until the record was broken by Allan Mangahas in 2019.[38] He also became only the third player at the time in league history to record a triple-double after Parks and Andoy Estrella. His head coach then left the team after disagreements with higher management.[39] He also left the team shortly after "out of respect" for his father.
Reyes was then traded to theValenzuela Classic for Rocky Acidre.[40] He had 12 assists in a win over thePasig Pirates.[41]
In 2019, Reyes joinedImus Bandera, which was coached by his father and had also recruitedJayjay Helterbrand,Gerald Anderson,Chad Alonzo, and several of his former teammates at UP.[42] He was injured in his debut for Imus.[43]
Reyes then played for the Bacolod Master Sardines. He scored 10 points in a loss to theGenSan Warriors.[44] He then had 12 points in an overtime loss to theIloilo United Royals.[45] This would be the last pro team he played for, as he retired in 2020.[46]
In 2017, Reyes practiced with Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas, the team that would represent the Philippines in the2017 FIBA Asia Champions Cup.[47] He didn't make the final roster.[48]
| Shoot First Podcast | |
|---|---|
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by |
|
| Genre | Sports |
| Format | Video podcast |
| Created by | Mikee Reyes |
| Language | Filipino/English |
| Length | 80–120 minutes |
| Country of origin | Philippines |
| Production | |
| No. of episodes | 300+ |
| Publication | |
| Original release | September 2021 |
| Provider | Trypod Network |
| Related | |
| Website | https://youtube.com/@sfpod |
| Years active | 2015–2019 2021–present |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Genre | color commentator |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Employer | One Sports |
After basketball, Reyes applied to become a flight attendant but failed because of a tattoo on his wrist.[5] He was also aGrab driver for a certain period of time.[46] Without a job due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and the loss of ABS-CBN's franchise, he tried becoming a streamer ofCall of Duty: Warzone. After his audience recognized him as a former UP Maroon, he did a stream where he talked about his basketball-playing days, which increased his views. This led to him to starting his ownYouTube channel, where he talked about basketball, which he called MikeeTV.[49] He then used the channel to interview basketball players and coaches (with the segments being called WRU Now? (Where Are You Now) for basketball players and Timeout for coaches).[50] On that channel, he used to upload up to nine videos a day which he self-produced and self-edited.[46] He then transitioned away from that format to theShoot First podcast, where he and his co-hosts talk about current basketball topics and also some non-basketball related topics.[51][49] TheShoot First title came from his reputation during his basketball-playing days.
Reyes then created his "Tito Mikee" online persona onInstagram andTikTok to show that he was more than a basketball person and to inspire his audience to pursue success.[52] Its focus is more on lifestyle and his love life.
In 2015, Reyes first started covering basketball games in the FBA, asVince Hizon offered him the opportunity.[22] He did two FBA games, which led to an audition to coverNCAA Season 91 basketball forABS-CBN Sports. He passed the audition, and became one of the members of the NCAA television panel. In 2017, he also became an on-air basketball analyst forCNN Philippines.[5] After he retired, he also coveredUAAP games. In 2018, he andKiefer Ravena co-hosted the online showChooks-to-Go/National Basketball Training Center 24.[53] He covered basketball for ABS-CBN Sports until 2020.[46]
In 2021, Reyes became anNCAA analyst forGMA Network.[54] He and his co-analysts competed on an episode of Family Feud against the hosts ofUnang Hirit.[55] He worked for GMA until the end ofNCAA Season 97.[56]
Reyes then became a basketball analyst forTV5 and its sister channelOne Sports in 2022, often appearing onThe Game and covering PBA games.[57][49] The success of theShoot First podcast was instrumental to him getting that job. In June 2023, he became the sports presenter forFrontline Pilipinas.[58] He became the first fully tattooed news reporter in the Philippines.[59] He also made appearance onEat Bulaga! 'sGimme 5 along with his pair contestantKaladKaren, whom is his fellow segment presenter onFrontline Pilipinas[60] and also onBawal! Judgement Ka Ba?[61]. He left the network until the end of 2024.[3]
In 2020, Reyes set up the GOAT Academy, a basketball academy where college basketball players could learn from professional basketball players.[62] He based the idea offKobe Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy. However, the pandemic delayed the academy's opening and the academy never took off.[24]
Reyes is currently in a relationship with CK De Leon, who is a content creator onInstagram.[63][49] They run a podcast together, where they talk about careers, life advice and more. She is 10 years younger than him.[64] Together, they are the ambassadors for TechLife Philippines.[65] He also lives with his dog, Melo.[66] He was in a relationship with Bea Daez, a former basketball player for theUP Lady Maroons.[67] They had been dating since their senior year of high school.[68]
Reyes used to be active onTwitter.[69] He deleted his Twitter account as he wasn't making money on the platform and he was getting bashed for his opinions.[49] He is still active on other types of social media.[70][71]