So long, Captain Hook: San Juan bids farewell to Cardona

With the first game of the new year against Navotas in Manila being played, there was one player conspicuously missing from the bench of the San Juan Knights bench.

As it turned out in their 112-95 beatdown of the Clutch that gave them their 21st win, it was no less than Mac Cardona the undisputed leader of the reigning and defending champions of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.

The league-leading Knights confirmed that Captain Hook had left the squad due to personal reasons, as they wish the 38-year-old veteran the best.

"As we start the year 2020, the San Juan Knights-Go for Gold will move forward without one of our veteran presence in Macmac," it said in a statement. 

Basketball fans knew Cardona well ever since his days with La Salle, with his on-court swagger and his unstoppable teardrop shot made fans and haters alike in his entire career.

Picked fifth in the PBA draft in 2005, he played the best of his career with Talk N'Text in 2009, winning the Finals MVP Award as the Tropang Texters won their second Philippine Cup at Alaska's expense, before became somewhat of a journeyman by playing with Meralco, NLEX and GlobalPort until 2017 where his life nearly torn apart with his apparent suicide attempt.

However, Senator Jinggoy Estrada picked him up for the then-expansion Knights in 2018, who are coming back via the MPBL where he was one of the veteran ex-pros in the squad alongside John Wilson and Larry Rodriguez.

Cardona played almost 22 minutes per outing, while scoring almost 12 points and 4 rebounds in a contest as he lead them with the coveted Datu Cup in a thrilling series with Davao Occidental that went the distance.

Despite seeing his output dropped to 7.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in just fifteen minutes this Lakan Season, Cardona showed his vintage game, scoring his season high of 19 points in their 28-point rout of Muntinlupa that turned out to be his last game at the FilOil FlyingV Centre.

Photo by Harold Biado/San Juan Knights