Mac Cardona: How an inspiring basketball tale turned tragic

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – By some miracle, Denok Miranda missed it. 

There were a little over 6 seconds left on the game clock. La Salle led FEU by one, 66-65, with everything on the line. Game 3. The Big Dome. It was the kind of setting where heroes were made.

Miranda had the perfect opportunity to become just that. Two La Sallian defenders jumped on his pump fake and somehow, he was wide open. But the ball didn’t kiss the glass smoothly enough. The shot missed. 

What happened next was craziness. Players were flying around, putting their bodies on the line for a leather basketball. Isn’t that always an amazing sight?

By some means, with 2.2 seconds left, Mac Cardona grabbed the ball as he was falling to the ground. It was a foul. Before he got up, he let go of the leather, took off his famous headband, and ran down the other end of the court. 

It didn’t matter that the game wasn’t officially done; it felt like it was. Cardona flexed his muscles and basked in the roars of the exuberant La Salle crowd. “D-L-S-U, Animo, La Salle!” they screamed. The crown was on its way back to Taft. Or at least, nearly there.

They serenaded him with chants of “MVP” as he marched to the foul line, confident as ever. He calmly made the first one. Two-point game. Ditto for the second. Now, FEU needed a miracle to send the game to overtime. Jeff Chan received the ball off the inbound pass and raced to the half-court line. He threw it up. The ball didn’t even hit rim.

Ecstasy. That’s what happened next. The Green Archers were champions once again, and how sweet it was. At the center of the celebration was Cardona, who ended his near-legendary UAAP career on top of the world. He was leaving La Salle the hero, bringing the school back to the top. In front of him was the PBA, a place where his legend was only supposed to grow. 

Greatness was waiting.

How funny that time can go by so fast.

This past Saturday, May 5, nearly 14 years after Cardona led La Salle to the UAAP title over FEU, he landed at the Makati City police station for charges of attempted homicide after stabbing his ex-partner, Bianca Nicole Jackes, on her left arm inside a condominium. 

The incident took place nearly two years after Cardona overdosed on sleeping pills in an apparent suicide attempt. According to Jackes, there was no heated argument that led to the latest confrontation. She claims Cardona visited her while high on drugs at an attempt at reconciliation, but she refused. The two used to live together with their children. 

 In a past interview with Rappler, Cardona revealed that when his ex-girlfriend, presumably Jackes, moved out in 2016, it led to the downward spiral that resulted in his suicide attempt.

There’s no masking how sad and unfortunate the circumstances surrounding Cardona have become. After his overdose in 2016, Cardona seemed on the path of recovery. In 2017, he made his PBA comeback with GlobalPort following a stint of humility in the D-League and just recently, it was announced he would play for the San Juan Knights in the MPBL next conference. 

Away from the court, Cardona told Rappler last September that he was staying out of trouble and was focusing on spending time with his kids. The 37-year-old was working out 3 times a week at Focus Athletics to get back in playing shape with the goal of playing professionally a few more years. He was also going to Bible study and even provided words of encouragement to people on Facebook who were messaging him with thoughts of attempting suicide.

A few months later in February, Cardona faced estafa charges for allegedly pawning a stolen vehicle for P300,000.

In hindsight, Cardona’s journey wasn’t supposed to take this turn. He grew up under tough circumstances without a consistent father figure. After moving to Carson City, California in 1999, he started working as a cashier register at establishments like Jack in the Box and Seafood City and made $9 an hour. With his mom providing the income for a house with 5 children, any finances he could lend to help her out were appreciated.

It was in the United States where Cardona learned to love basketball and develop his famous hook shot/floater, which eventually earned him the nickname “Captain Hook.” It was also there where he was discovered by his former agent Mike Gonzales, who bought him a ticket to the Philippines in order to try out for Franz Pumaren’s Green Archers.

What happened next was a 10-year odyssey that led to him becoming one of the most prominent faces of Philippine basketball. From making 9 bucks an hour to P15,000 a month (school allowance) and then eventually earning a max contract from the Meralco Bolts, Cardona’s story was supposed to be an inspiring tale to many others about how passion, dedication, and resiliency can turn a life around. 

It was supposed to be one of those stories that make you believe there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

But sometimes, life isn’t that simple.

Everything changed in 2011 when Cardona found out he had bipolar disorder. The medicine he was prescribed helped put his mind at ease, but it also had effects that hindered his basketball career. He noticed weight gain and felt sleepy for long stretches. Dizziness was also a common factor. He chose not to tell anyone away from home about his situation. After 6 months, he stopped taking the pills.

A reason why Cardona made that decision was because of the pressure to perform after signing a maximum contract with the Bolts. Meralco inked him to a deal that made him its franchise player, and that was the type of play expected of him. 

Things didn’t get better. Cardona was eventually shipped to NLEX, where he turned from go-to-player to the guy who played spot minutes. A former PBA Best Player of the Conference and PBA Finals MVP, he saw his playing time taken by younger players as his age crept up and his body weakened, thanks to multiple injuries. 

Falling from stardom is common for many basketball players who see their roles diminish as time passes. But for Cardona, whose importance felt like it changed overnight and who was dealing with issues away from the court, it was an absolute gut punch.

We watch movies and read stories about happy endings and, intentionally or not, we sometimes start to believe that our lives are supposed to follow the same script. That’s what the goal of living is supposed to be about, right? That after the trials and tribulations, we become content and learn what the true definition of happiness is. There are some who are fortunate enough to attain that. Others aren’t so lucky. 

Mac Cardona is not even 40 years old, but it feels like the journey he’s been on consists of a lifetime of lessons and memories already. No one can predict where he goes from here, because it’s a path that only he can determine. Maybe, somewhere deep inside, the hero that was born that day at The Big Dome basking in the glory of his accomplishment still lives, waiting to return. 

“I think kaya ko pa talaga (I still can do it),” he said about playing just a few weeks after the last PBA season. “Kaya ko pa (I still can).”

The passion to play the game that he loves, the game that has given him so much in return, is still there. But there’s also that desire to do what we were all born to do.

To live.

“Bumabalik na. Tumitibok na ulit. Alam ko na yung tama at mali ulit. Bumalik na yung faith ko sa God. Binigyan niya ako second life. Binigyan niya ako pagkakataon makabalik sa basketball,” he said back then.

(It’s coming back. It’s beating again. I know what’s right and wrong again. My faith in God has returned. He gave me a second life. He gave me the chance to return to basketball.)

Only time can provide the final answer, but this shouldn’t be how the story of Mac Cardona ends. 

It’s worth believing that he was given a second chance in life for a reason, and that reason isn’t to fall once again. 

It’s worth believing that the man who faced a tempestuous beginning can find his happy ending, wherever it may be.

It’s worth believing that at the end of the tunnel, there is light. 

Whether or not he gets there, ultimately, will be up to him. – Rappler.com