Niño Canaleta
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| No. 9 – Blackwater Elite | |
|---|---|
| Position | Small forward / Power forward |
| League | PBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
February 12, 1982 Tarlac City, Tarlac, Philippines |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | University of the East |
| PBA draft | 2005 Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall |
| Selected by the Air21 Express | |
| Playing career | 2005–present |
| Career history | |
| 2005–2009 | Air21 Express |
| 2009–2011 | B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados / B-Meg Llamados |
| 2011 | Shopinas.com Clickers |
| 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–present | Blackwater Elite |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Rommel Niño T. "KG" Canaleta (born February 12, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Blackwater Elite of 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.
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.
Cañaleta is undoubtedly one of the biggest attractions in the league with his jaw-dropping, never-seen slams by a local player. Cañaleta 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. Cañaleta 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, Cañaleta does 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, Cañaleta scored a career-high 41 points in their 112-93 win against GlobalPort Batang Pier. Cañaleta 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.
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