Dondon Hontiveros

Early life, high school and collegiate career

Born in Cebu City, Hontiveros fancied basketball at a young age and tried to enter the sport at a competitive level in his first year of high school. But at that time, since he lacked the height, no one took notice of him. Fortunately, he had a growth spurt by the time he was in third year so he was taken into the high school basketball team of Don Bosco Technology Center.

His first year with the varsity team was spent mostly on the bench. By the time he became a high school senior, he was already part of the team's rotation. At this point, he was already as tall as the team's center. His jump to college basketball suffered a minor setback when he ended his senior high school year with an injury. To keep himself competitive, he played in the intramural games at University of San Jose–Recoletos.

He eventually played college ball at the University of Cebu for three years.

Metropolitan Basketball Association

Hontiveros joined the Metropolitan Basketball Association in its maiden season in 1998 playing for the Cebu Gems. However, despite being a fan favorite among the Cebuano fans, his stint with the Gems was marred with chaos, as he requested to be released by the team because he wanted to finish his studies and the constant travelling to different provinces with the team prompted him to drop some of his subjects.

Philippine Basketball Association

The Cebu Gems management tried to trade Hontiveros to different MBA teams. But Hontiveros' desire to play for the PBA eventually materialized as the Gems strike an agreement with Tanduay Rhum Masters, who acquired Hontiveros in exchange for cash. But after Tanduay franchise was sold to the Lina Group in 2002, San Miguel (his favorite team) acquired him through a trade. Soon, he found himself a vital cog in the team's offensive rotation as he was quickly promoted as a starter for the team. He was a member of the two championships won by San Miguel in 2004-2005 Fiesta Conference and the 2009 Fiesta Conference.

In March 2011, he, along with Danny Seigle, Dorian Pena and Paul Artadi were shipped to Air21 for younger players Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao and Rey Guevarra. During his stint with the Express, he emerged as one of the key players In 2011 draft-day, he was traded back to Petron (San Miguel) along with the No.3 pick which was used to draft Chris Lutz.

Before the end of August 2012, he was involved in a six-player, four-team trade that sent him to Alaska. He was a vital addition off-the-bench for the Aces, and was a member of the 2013 championship team. He would often provide heroics when it mattered, as evidenced in the games he played during the 2014-15 Philippine Cup. He was the game's best player once during the elimination round against NLEX, and would provide his usual heroics in the playoffs, once against Rain or Shine and another during the Game 6 (a potential elimination game) against San Miguel in the Finals.

On January 16, 2015, he surpassed fellow Cebuano gunner Al Solis for the No. 4 all time in three-point field goals with 1,002.

International career

Hontiveros played for the Philippine National Team in 2002 and 2007. He also donned the national colors for the Smart-Gilas Team Pilipinas in 2011 and helped Gilas Pilipinas defeat Japan in the semifinals of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in China.

Personal life

Hontiveros is a Christian, and has a son named Isaiah with singer and fellow Cebu native Gail Blanco. He speaks two languages - Cebuano and Filipino. He is also a cousin to former Akbayan Rep. Risa and CNN Philippines anchor Pia Hontiveros.

He has also worn the following numbers during his career: the numbers 7 with Cebu Gems and San Miguel, the number 34 which was his first jersey number with Tanduay (3+4=7), and 24 with Air21 which was a combination of his 7 and the 17 of his former teammate Olsen Racela. Currently he wears number 25 with Alaska Aces (2+5=7).