Rommel Niño T. "KG" Canaleta (born February 12, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Biñan Tatak Gel of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He is also a former assistant coach for the Taichung Suns of the T1 League. He played majority of his career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). A 6-6 athletic forward, he is fondly called by nicknames like KG, The Big Ticket, and The Da Vinci of Dunk. He won the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2012 PBA Slam Dunk Contests and led the Air21 Express to a third-place finish in the 2006 PBA Philippine Cup.
 Canaleta with the Air21 Express in 2008 | |
| No. 9 – Biñan Tatak Gel | |
|---|---|
| League | MPBL |
| Personal information | |
| Born | February 12, 1982 Tarlac City, Tarlac, Philippines |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 194 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | University of the East (2002–2004) |
| PBA draft | 2005: 1st round, 6th overall pick |
| Selected by the Air21 Express | |
| Playing career | 2005–present |
| Position | Power forward / small forward |
| Number | 9, 12 |
| Coaching career | 2022–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2005–2009 | Air21 Express |
| 2009–2011 | B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados / B-Meg Llamados |
| 2011 | Air21 Express |
| 2011–2012 | Barangay Ginebra Kings |
| 2012–2014 | Air21 Express |
| 2014 | Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters |
| 2014–2015 | NLEX Road Warriors |
| 2015–2016 | Mahindra Enforcer |
| 2016–2017 | GlobalPort Batang Pier |
| 2017 | Blackwater Elite |
| 2017–2019 | Meralco Bolts |
| 2019–2021 | Blackwater Elite/Bossing |
| 2022 | Taichung Wagor Suns |
| 2022 | Boracay Islanders |
| 2022–2023 | Taichung Suns |
| 2023 | Imus SV Squad |
| 2023–present | Biñan Tatak Gel |
| As coach: | |
| 2022–2023 | Taichung Suns (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Professional career
PBA
He made a serious run for the Rookie of the Year honors with an impressive Philippine Cup campaign where he averaged 16.2 points per game, No. 1 among rookies and seventh in the tournament among locals. But a so-so performance in the Fiesta Conference and two finals stints of Red Bull made Larry Fonacier a no-brainer for the award.
Canaleta is undoubtedly one of the biggest attractions in the league with his jaw-dropping, never-seen slams by a local player. Canaleta was a back-to-back-to-back winner of the Slam Dunk competition, both by convincing fashion. He was ranked no. 2 in scoring among rookies during his rookie year with 9.4 points per outing. Canaleta was the first Philippine Basketball Association player to become a 5-time PBA Slam Dunk Champion. On 2011 PBA All-Star Weekend, he dunked on 3 men in the final round against Kelly Williams to win his 4th PBA Slam Dunk Champion Award. On 2012, Canaleta did it again after dunking on 3-men, including 6-foot-9 Asi Taulava to win his 5th Slam Dunk Award.
He was also awarded by the PBA to be the Mr. Quality Minutes Player in 2010.
On December 5, 2012, Canaleta scored a career-high 41 points in their 112-93 win against GlobalPort Batang Pier.[1] Canaleta was named the PBA Press Corps' Player of the Week for the period April 8–14, 2013 after dropping 37 points anchored on 9-18 shooting from 3-point land in their come-from-behind win over Petron, 95-91.[2]
On January 20, 2014, Canaleta was traded by Air21 to Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters for Sean Anthony, Eliud Poligrates, and a 2016 first-round pick.[3]
On October 9, 2014, Canaleta was traded from Talk 'N Text to NLEX in a three-team trade that involved Blackwater Elite.[4]
On August 25, 2015, Canaleta was traded by NLEX to Mahindra Enforcer in a three-team trade that also involved Talk 'N Text.[5][6]
On March 29, Canaleta was traded to the Blackwater Elite in exchange for Dylan Ababou and James Forrester.
On January 10, 2018, while playing for the Meralco Bolts, Canaleta became the 87th member of the elite 5,000 points club, 83rd among locals, in the Bolts 103-98 loss to the Alaska Aces.[7] [8]
On October 25, 2019, Canaleta, along with Mike Tolomia and two second round draft picks in 2020 and 2022, was traded to the Blackwater Elite for Allein Maliksi and Raymar Jose.[9] This was his second stint with the Elite.
Taiwan
On March 19, 2022, Canaleta signed with Taichung Wagor Suns of the T1 League.[10] On December 20, Canaleta signed with Taichung Suns of the T1 League as assistant coach.[11] On December 23, Taichung Suns registered Canaleta as import player.[12] On February 10, 2023, Taichung Suns cancelled the registration of Canaleta's playership.[13]
PBA career 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 |
As of the end of 2021 season[14][15]
Season-by-season averages
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Air21 | 52 | 21.0 | .388 | .304 | .707 | 3.8 | .6 | .3 | .3 | 9.4 |
| 2006–07 | Air21 | 41 | 25.8 | .395 | .331 | .703 | 5.8 | .8 | .4 | .7 | 11.9 |
| 2007–08 | Air21 | 50 | 23.5 | .397 | .332 | .681 | 3.2 | 1.2 | .5 | .6 | 10.4 |
| 2008–09 | Air21 | 37 | 18.1 | .353 | .220 | .736 | 3.9 | .8 | .3 | .3 | 5.8 |
| Purefoods | |||||||||||
| 2009–10 | Purefoods / B-Meg Derby Ace | 58 | 17.5 | .379 | .345 | .596 | 2.6 | .9 | .3 | .4 | 8.1 |
| 2010–11 | B-Meg Derby Ace | 43 | 20.0 | .374 | .342 | .804 | 3.7 | .5 | .4 | .5 | 8.0 |
| Air21 | |||||||||||
| 2011–12 | Barangay Ginebra | 36 | 17.2 | .413 | .364 | .739 | 3.3 | .7 | .2 | .3 | 8.7 |
| 2012–13 | Air21 | 39 | 30.6 | .397 | .369 | .739 | 5.3 | 1.3 | .5 | .6 | 16.7 |
| 2013–14 | Air21 | 48 | 23.8 | .388 | .351 | .769 | 4.1 | .7 | .5 | .2 | 10.2 |
| Talk 'N Text | |||||||||||
| 2014–15 | NLEX | 36 | 20.1 | .382 | .327 | .762 | 3.3 | .6 | .2 | .1 | 8.1 |
| 2015–16 | Mahindra | 32 | 25.3 | .425 | .354 | .841 | 3.8 | 1.0 | .2 | .4 | 11.7 |
| 2016–17 | GlobalPort | 36 | 23.5 | .372 | .347 | .745 | 4.1 | .9 | .4 | .4 | 8.4 |
| Blackwater | |||||||||||
| 2017–18 | Meralco | 37 | 19.4 | .394 | .374 | .722 | 3.7 | 1.0 | .2 | .3 | 8.6 |
| 2019 | Meralco | 25 | 12.7 | .436 | .429 | .833 | 2.0 | .9 | .2 | .2 | 6.6 |
| Blackwater | |||||||||||
| 2020 | Blackwater | 11 | 25.4 | .398 | .347 | .765 | 4.3 | .7 | .2 | .5 | 11.7 |
| 2021 | Blackwater | 13 | 16.0 | .306 | .190 | .727 | 2.2 | .6 | .2 | .6 | 4.6 |
| Career | 594 | 21.4 | .390 | .341 | .723 | 3.7 | .8 | .3 | .4 | 9.5 | |
Awards
- Mr. Quality Minutes Award (2010)
- Five-time PBA Slam Dunk Champion (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012)
- PBA All Rookie First Team (2005–2006)
- Scored a record 38 Points in the PBA Rookie Game
- 2013 PBA Most Improved Player