Mac Cardona: The king of hooks in hoops

Mark Reynan ‘Macmac’ Cardona made immediate waves for the Archers when he entered La Salle in 2001. That same year also marked the completion of La Salle’s four-peat crown in UAAP men’s basketball.

He was hailed Rookie of the Year of Season 62. As the former King Archer Ren-ren Ritualo left Taft Avenue, Cardona took over the scoring load for the Archers.

Though coming up short three conferences after his championship in his rookie year, Cardona led the Green-and-White squad to another title in his final year in the UAAP. In the same season, he entered the Mythical team and received the Most Valuable Player honors.

Captain hook, as he was fondly called in the world of hoops, has been part of La Salle’s stabilizing basketball programs in the early 2000s. He made an immediate impact when he entered the UAAP because of his scoring ability. In the 2003-2004 season, he led the Archers in scoring as well as the whole UAAP.

Stepping out of the UAAP

As expected, Cardona continued to make waves in the Philippine basketball scenes when he was hailed as the conference MVP of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) in 2005. Before htis MVP award, he was already a part of the Mythical team in 2002 and 2004.

After his PBL MVP conference, Cardona was drafted fifth overall by the Air 21 Express and was eventually traded to the Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

With just two years of stay in the pro league, Cardona already received the Player of the Conference award in 2007.

Cardona is currently the top gun of the Meralco Bolts in the PBA where he averages 14.5 points, 3 boards, and 1.3 steals a game in the ongoing PBA conference.