Danny Ildefonso

Danilo Ildefonso (born December 9, 1976) is a Filipino former professional basketball player.

He currently serves as an assistant coach for both the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the NU Bulldogs of the UAAP.

Ildefonso led the Philippines to a gold-medal in 1997 Southeast Asian Games alongside Rommel Adducul and Ralph Rivera.

After a successful amateur career, Danny Ildefonso applied for the PBA draft despite being underage.

This prompted the PBA to change their age limit rules, enraging the PBL.

Even as Ildefonso entered the draft, he also signed a contract to play for the Pangasinan Presidents of the newly formed Metropolitan Basketball Association.

He was picked 1st overall in the 1998 PBA draft and the 2014 PBA Expansion Draft, becoming the only player in the PBA to be drafted first-overall two times and being drafted first-overall in the draft and the expansion draft.

Ildefonso played amateur basketball for the National University Bulldogs in the UAAP and for AGFA in the Philippine Basketball League and a member of the Philippine national basketball team on several occasions.

He started his PBA career in 1998, when he was drafted by Formula Shell.

Ildefonso was eventually drafted first-pick overall by Formula Shell in the 1998 PBA draft, but was traded to San Miguel for the Beermen's second overall pick, Noy Castillo, and cash.

The San Miguel Corporation franchise wanted the promising youngster in their ranks to be the future cornerstone of the team and this forced them to buy out his MBA contract.

In his rookie season, Ildefonso became one of the key players for the Beermen alongside Nelson Asaytono, leading the Beermen to two runner-up finish in the All-Filipino and Commissioner's Cup, losing to Alaska on both occasions.

At season's end, he won the Rookie of the Year honors while averaging 11.6 PPG in 74 Games which led all Rookies in 1998.

The next season, with the departure of Asaytono and the arrival of Filipino-American rookie Danny Seigle and the performances of imports Terquin Mott and Lamont Strothers, San Miguel won two titles in the 1999 Commissioner's Cup and Governor's Cup, ending a five-year title drought.

Nicknamed "Danny I", "The Demolition Man" and "Lakáy", Ildefonso was awarded PBA Most Valuable Player in 2000 and 2001, being one of four players to do so in back-to-back seasons (along with Bogs Adornado, Alvin Patrimonio, and June Mar Fajardo).

He is also one of the few PBA players to have won all three major MVP awards in the league: regular season, finals, and all-star game MVP.

In 2000, Ildefonso and Seigle would again lead San Miguel to two titles, retaining the Commissioner's and Governor's Cup championships.

Ildefonso won the two of the five straight Best Player of the Conference honors and defeated Seigle to win the Most Valuable Player Awards.

In 2001, San Miguel defeated sister team Barangay Ginebra Kings, 4–2 to win the All-Filipino Cup.

Despite two losses to Red Bull and Sta. Lucia in the Commissioner's Cup and Governor's Cup finals series, Ildefonso went on to sweep the Best Player of the Conference honors and won his second Most Valuable Player Award, joining Bogs Adornado and Alvin Patrimonio as the only players to win the said award on back-to-back seasons.

He also won the All-Star Game MVP honors for the victorious Veterans team.

With this feature, Danny Ildefonso became one of the rare players to have won all three major MVP awards in the league: regular season, all-star game, and finals MVP.

In 2002, Ildefonso temporary left San Miguel to join the Philippine National Training Pool in the preparation for the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.

Ildefonso went on to join the team for the event but struggled throughout the Asiad, mainly due to his role of playing small forward, instead of his natural position of power forward.

The Nationals ended up in fourth place after losing a heartbreaking semis matchup against South Korea.

Ildefonso returned to the Beermen in the All-Filipino Cup but the Beermen placed only third in the said tournament.

Ildefonso would play inconsistent games as well as missing several games due to injuries in the 2003 season and the early parts of the 2004–05 season.

During the 2005 Fiesta Conference, the Beermen made it to the semifinals against Red Bull.

In 2013, after 15 years with San Miguel, he was waived by the team and then joined the Meralco Bolts in the same year.

He spent one season with Meralco before being released to the 2014 Expansion Draft.

However, Blackwater Elite who drafted him, did not sign him because of contract problems, stating that Ildefonso is expecting too much salary on the team.

Ildefonso defended himself stating that his wage with the team is very low.

In late 2014, Ildefonso returned to Meralco.

Ildefonso was discovered after suiting up for his native Pangasinan in the Palarong Pambansa.

He played for the NU Bulldogs in the UAAP, teaming up with fellow Pangasinense and later-AGFA and San Miguel teammate Lordy Tugade, leading the Bulldogs to respectable finishes in the UAAP.

He later played for AGFA in the Philippine Basketball League but had a difficult time leading the Photokina franchise to the title, losing to Tanduay in championship matches.

He was regarded as the second-best big man of his class behind Rommel Adducul, and was highly sought after by then-SMB coach Ron Jacobs after seeing the potential in his rail-thin frame.

The tremendous potential seen in his combination of youth, footwork, leaping ability and work ethic as shown by him bulking up after only two seasons in the PBA were enough to convince San Miguel to trade their number two pick, Noy Castillo, and cash for the first overall pick Ildefonso.

Ildefonso was also involved in some controversy after signing with the now-defunct Pangasinan Presidents of the MBA, having a live contract with AGFA and at the same time being selected in the draft.

San Miguel had to buy out all his contractual obligations for him to suit up with the Beermen.