Nelson Asaytono

Nelson Asaytono

Personal information
Born	(1967-01-25) January 25, 1967 (age 57) 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 the Purefoods 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
7× PBA champion (1990 Third, 1991 All-Filipino, 1992 Third, 1993 Commissioner's, 1995 All-Filipino, 1995 Commissioner's, 2002 Commissioner's) 3× PBA Mythical First Team (1992, 1993, 1997) 4× PBA Mythical Second Team (1994–1996, 1998) 2× PBA Best Player of the Conference (1997 All-Filipino, 1998 All-Filipino) 10× PBA All-Star (1989–1993, 1995–1999) PBA Scoring Champion (1997) 3x PABL champion (1986 Founder's Cup, 1987 Maharlika Cup, 1988 Freedom Cup)

Nelson Asaytono (born January 25, 1967) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player who played for Purefoods, Swift/Sunkist/Pop Cola, San Miguel Beer, and Red Bull in the PBA during his 17-year career.

Collegiate and amateur career

Asaytono played at University of Manila under the tutelage of former pro Loreto Tolentino, his coach at UM Hawks. ^[1] His first national stint was being part of the RP Youth team that played in the 9th ABC Youth Championships held in Manila. He would become a member of the national team that same year in 1987 under coach Joe Lipa. ^[2] Asaytono also played for coach Derrick Pumaren at Magnolia Ice Cream in the PABL and won three championships. ^{[3] [4]}

Professional career

Purefoods Hotdogs

Asaytono was drafted as the 2nd overall pick by the Purefoods Hotdogs in 1989. ^[5] He played three seasons for the ballclub that had most of his former national teammates; Jojo Lastimosa, Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codiñera, Glenn Capacio and Dindo Pumaren. With Patrimonio at 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.

Swift/Sunkist

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 full 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 a Grand Slam, winning two titles that season, but only got third place in the Governors' Cup. ^[8]

After winning four championships with Swift/Sunkist, Asaytono was traded to the San Miguel Beermen, his former team in the amateurs, in April 1996 for one-time MVP Renato Agustin. ^[9]

San Miguel Beermen

Asaytono's trade to San Miguel proved to be the turning point of his career. He became the go-to-guy in Coach Ron Jacobs's rotation as well as its franchise player. ^[10] In 1997, he became one of the forerunners for the MVP award but he again came short to former teammate Alvin Patrimonio. ^[11] Although he lost the MVP race, he led the league in scoring.

When the team drafted future MVP Danny Ildefonso in the 1998 season, his minutes was again reduced but still he led the team in scoring. ^[12] He led Beermen to the finals twice in All Filipino and Commissioner's Cup in that season, but came up short in both occasions to the Alaska Milkmen. ^[13] A year later, when Jong Uichico took over the coaching reins from Jacobs, he was relegated to the bench and was eventually traded to his former team, the Pop Cola 800s (together with William Antonio) for Dwight Lago, Boybits Victoria, and Nic Belasco. ^[9]

Pop Cola, Red Bull, career milestone and retirement

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 the Red Bull Barako until the 2005-06 season.

On April 7, 2005, he passed Crispa great Philip Cezar for the fifth spot 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 only Ramon Fernandez, Abet Guidaben, Alvin Patrimonio and Atoy Co. ^[15]

He had a brief stint with the Pagadian Warriors of the National Basketball Conference (NBC) before retiring. ^[16] He retired in 2006. ^[5]

Statistics

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]

Season-by-season averages

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

Personal life

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 in General Trias, Cavite for four days and was discharged several days later. ^[20] His former teammates and rivals and even the PBA itself helped pay for his hospital expenses.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "These players prove you don't need to play in major college league to make it to big time". Spin.ph. July 6, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
2. Cuna, Charlie; Mercado, Jay (February 16, 2021). "National teams in the PBA (Part 2): The Lipa, Pumaren and Toroman eras". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
3. Ulanday, John Bryan (January 8, 2020). "Pumaren back as Archers coach". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
4. "Nelson Asaytono". philippinebasketball.neocities.org. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
5. "PBA legend Nelson Asaytono in recovery after heart attack". news.abs-cbn.com. April 12, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
6. Nazareno, Rocky (January 3, 1992). "P 1-M fine for 'cap' violation". Manila Standard.
7. "Patrimonio named MVP anew". Manila Standard.
8. Leongson, Randolph B. (May 9, 2020). "This 1995 Sunkist team that came close to a grand slam is quite something, too". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
9. Leongson, Randolph B. (November 10, 2021). "Arwind Santos just the latest SMB mainstay to be traded. See list". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
10. Terrado, Reuben (May 5, 2020). "To unleash the 'Bull,' Ron Jacobs had to set ego aside, says Jong". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
11. Joble, Rey (August 17, 2021). "Yeng Guiao weighs in on repeated lack of recognition for Asaytono". news.abs-cbn.com. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
12. "1998 Hardcourt The Official PBA Annual: San Miguel Beermen Player Profiles Page 138". pbaannual1998.neocities.org. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
13. Ramos, Gerry (February 20, 2022). "Jolas says 1998 Alaska campaign 'would've been a sure grand slam'". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
14. Villar, Joey; Beltran, Nelson (April 7, 2005). "Barakos put cuffs on Chargers". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
15. Badua, Snow. "Nelson Asaytono fumes over non-inclusion in PBA '40 Greatest Players' list: 'That's a lot of bull'". www.spin.ph. SPIN.ph. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
16. Labrador, Roel L. (December 15, 2006). "Tribu Sugbu gipalayas sa Pagadian". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
17. Melican, Nathaniel R. (May 21, 2015). "Daughter of ex-PBA star Asaytono charged for man's death, injuries to 12 others in crash". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
18. Cadayona, Russell (July 20, 2012). "Williams umagaw ng eksena sa USA All-Stars vs PBA Legends". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
19. Ramos, Gerry (February 4, 2019). "Nelson 'The Bull' Asaytono refuses to dwell on 40 Greatest Players snub". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
20. Ramos, Gerry (April 12, 2020). "Fellow legends come to the aid of Nelson Asaytono after heart attack". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-12-05.