Kerby Raymundo

Kerby Mariano Raymundo (born January 19, 1981 in Orion, Bataan, Philippines) is a Filipino professional basketball player currently playing for the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known as "The Kid," he was a former star player with the Letran Knights during his NCAA years.

Amateur career

It was only in Raymundo's junior year in Jose Rizal Institute (high school) that he started playing basketball. He was discovered by Mollet Pineda, a former Colegio de San Juan de Letran player and coach. A close friend named Francis Brown also encouraged him to play. Raymundo played for Letran in the NCAA from 1997-1999 and made significant impact for the Knights along with future PBA players Christian Calaguio and Willie Miller. From 1998-1999, he was a member of the Knights' back-to-back NCAA championships with victories over five-peat champion San Sebastian Stags and the JRU Heavy Bombers, respectively. He was named MVP in 1999. He also played for the Philippines in the 1999 Southeast Asian Games as the country won the gold medal. He also played for Red Bull in the Philippine Basketball League, teamming up with future teammates Jimwell Torion, Lordy Tugade, Junthy Valenzuela and Fil-American recruit Davonn Harp, but never led the Energy Kings to a title in his only stint in 1999.His auntie Nena Pizarro, a former head of Department of Education, was the one who falsified his transcript in order for him to enter the PBA Draft early. He was later suspended for a year.

PBA career

Raymundo joined the PBA at the age of 19 when Red Bull made the decision to move to the PBA from the PBL making him the second youngest player to join the league. He played six games for Red Bull in his debut in the 2000 All-Filipino Cup, but was banned by the league for the rest of the season after finding out that Raymundo falsified his requirements to enter the league. The league required players who have graduated from high school in 1996, while Raymundo graduated only a year later before going to Letran. He would later return in 2001 for the Thunder, becoming one of the vital cogs, along with Davonn Harp, Mick Pennisi, Jimwell Torion, former collegiate teammate Miller and import Antonio Lang, to lead Red Bull to their first championship over the San Miguel Beermen in the Commissioners Cup. In 2002, he was traded to Purefoods. Since then he has become one of the Giants' leading scorers and has brought the team to winning championship games. In the 2002 Governors Cup, Raymundo together with import Derrick Brown led Purefoods to victory. In the 2006 Fiesta Conference, Raymundo who led the team to another finals appearance topped the statistical points category with 1,686 points but controversially lost the bid for the Conference MVP to Red Bull's Enrico Villanueva. After the Giants won Game four of the championship series, he proclaimed that he was the "Real MVP" and left the court after an interview. Purefoods gained a runner-up finish for that conference but finally had the break in the 2006 Philippine Cup where they won last July 21, 2006 with him named as that night's Best Player. Raymundo lost the MVP bid to teammate James Yap, only earning second place in statistical points. He became part of the 2006 Mythical Five alongside teammates James Yap and Roger Yap, as well as Lordy Tugade and Enrico Villanueva—both from Red Bull.

Trivia

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• He is the son of Roberto and Dolores Raymundo of Orion, Bataan.
• His siblings are Ruby and Dolbert Raymundo.
• He took Business Management in Letran.
• He looks up to NBA star Kevin Garnett and his PBA mentor and team manager Alvin Patrimonio as his role models.
• He was given the monicker "The Kid" after his idol Kevin Garnett who, like him, started his professional career at a young age.
• His wife is Christina Tan, with whom he has three children.
• They named their 3rd child, also their 3rd boy, "Kino Gerby."
• He named his eldest son Kevin Garnett Raymundo after his idol.
• His pre-game rituals include praying.
• Chinese food, Brian McKnight, Martin Lawrence, Bugs Bunny and The Amazing Race are only a few of his other interests.
• He mentioned that if he weren't a professional basketball player, he would have been a seaman.
• During his collegiate career, Coach Louie Alas called him "The Future of the NCAA" because of his talent.
• Right now, he is selected to represent the Philippines National Basketball Team to play in the SEABA Championships in Thailand, FIBA Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan and hopefully in the 2008 Beijing Olympics

External links

• Kerby Raymundo's PBA Profile
• Purefoods Chunkee Giants Official Site