Filipino basketball player (born 1982)
Larry Alexander Nacua Fonacier (born May 13, 1982) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He previously served as the team manager for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted fourteenth overall by the Red Bull Barako in the 2005 PBA draft. Nicknamed the "Babyface Assassin", he became known as a reliable three-point shooter and reliable defender.
Early life.
Fonacier is the first-born son of the family, and he was an only child until his younger sister was born. Since he was an only child, he socialized by playing basketball. His father played tennis, so when he was five years old, he learned to shoot by trying to shoot tennis balls into a small makeshift rim. At night, he watched PBA games, especially those of his favorite team Purefoods. While watching games on television, he tried his best to copy the moves of his favorite player, Alvin Patrimonio, and dutifully wrote down Patrimonio's stats on his school notebook. He also participated in camps held by the Milo BEST (Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Training) Center.
High school and college career.
Larry first played for the Ateneo de Manila High School Blue Eaglets in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Juniors Basketball division, leading them to numerous winning seasons and championships along with Enrico Villanueva, Wesley Gonzales, BJ Manalo, and Bajjie del Rosario. He was named the UAAP Juniors MVP in 1999 as Ateneo swept the competition 14–0. He moved to the college ranks the following year.
In his rookie year, under coach Joe Lipa, he played consistent minutes coming off the bench. The Blue Eagles managed to secure a twice to beat advantage against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. Despite having the twice to beat advantage, they were defeated in both games. The Eagles would have faced the De La Salle Green Archers in a best-of-3 finals.
The following year, in 2001, Larry started in all of the games and played a significant role in the team. The team finished with 10 wins and 4 losses. They, again, secured a twice to beat advantage against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. They defeated Far Eastern University Tamaraws 67–63 then faced the De La Salle Green Archers in the best-of-3 finals. The Eagles lost in Game 3 despite a 30-point game from freshman LA Tenorio. The score was 93–88.
During the summer, the Ateneo-Hapee team joined the commercial and amateur Philippine Basketball League and won the championship under coach Joel Banal. At the start of the 65th season of the UAAP, with a championship caliber coach in Banal, the Ateneo de Manila community had very high hopes of finally ending the 14-year drought. Fonacier scored 14 points (including eight points with back-to-back threes in overtime) to lead the team to a win over FEU. The Eagles ended with 4 wins and 3 losses in the first round of the tournament, but lost their next two games, giving them a record of 4 wins and 5 losses. Most of the Ateneo community had lost hope. The Eagles, however, pulled off 5 straight wins, to end the elimination round with 9 wins and 5 losses and claim third seed. Furthermore, they spoiled the De La Salle Green Archers chances of sweeping the 14 game eliminations, which would have given them an outright berth in the championship round. Larry scored 15 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in that 76–63 win over the Green Archers. The Eagles would then face the UE Red Warriors. The team won both games and faced the De La Salle Green Archers in the finals in a best of 3 series. In game 1, Larry scored 11 points and had two crucial blocks against Mark Cardona in the game's dying seconds. In game 2, Larry scored his college career high of 25 points but lost the game by 8 points. In game 3, Larry scored only 6 points because of food poisoning, but the team finally ended the 14 title year drought winning the UAAP Men's Basketball Championship with the score of 77–70. Larry was named co-Finals MVP, along with Wesley Gonzales, averaging 11.7 points per game.
In 2003, Fonacier scored 18 points in a win over the UST Tigers. He then had 15 points (with eight in the clutch), nine rebounds, and five assists against UE as Ateneo stretched its win streak that season to six. He missed their next game (which was against the NU Bulldogs) due to a fractured nose bridge he sustained in team practice, and Ateneo lost. That season, the Blue Eagles made it to the finals but lost to the FEU Tamaraws.
In 2004, Larry's last year, he only played 4 games in that season. He suffered an ACL injury on his left knee while driving to the basket in the fourth game against UP that ended his UAAP career. The team and the Ateneo community rallied behind him, as they held a mass at the Ateneo chapel. That season, Ateneo swept the first round of eliminations, but were eliminated once again by La Salle.
Professional career.
Red Bull Barako (2005–2007).
Before entering the PBA, Fonacier continued to rehab from his ACL injury, and took master's classes in communications. He then applied for the 2005 PBA Draft. He was then selected by Red Bull Barako with the 14th pick.
In his rookie season, Fonacier helped Red Bull win a Fiesta Conference championship. In the next conference, the Philippine Cup, he helped Red Bull reach the finals, where they lost to the Purefoods Chunkee Giants in six games. He won the PBA Rookie of the Year award during the 2005–06 season. This made him the lowest picked player in PBA history to win the award, until Aaron Black broke the record.
In a 92–89 loss to the Air21 Express during the 2006–07 season, Fonacier had a chance to make a game-winning play, but his pass was stolen by Yancy de Ocampo. During that time, he was named as an All-Star, and played for the North All-Stars team in the 2007 PBA All-Star Weekend. He also participated in that year's Three-Point Shootout.
Magnolia Beverage Masters (2007–2008).
Fonacier was then traded to the Magnolia Beverage Masters. There, he split time with Lordy Tugade, Chris Calaguio, and former Ateneo teammate Wesley Gonzales on a team that was in "win-now" mode.
Alaska Aces (2008–2010).
After some games with Magnolia, he was then dealt to the Alaska Aces with his teammate LA Tenorio in exchange for Ken Bono and Mike Cortez. It was expected that he would be given the same role Alaska legend Jojo Lastimosa used to have with the team. He had to master Coach Tim Cone's triangle offense and come off the bench, which took some time to adjust for him.
In a win over the Coca-Cola Tigers during the 2008–09 Philippine Cup, Fonacier scored 13 points with three three-point shots. Alaska made it to the finals, where in Game 5, he recorded 15 points and six rebounds. However, they lost their next two games, and the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters became champions.
TNT Franchise (2010–2017).
2010–11 season.
During the 2010 PBA Draft, he was traded by the Aces to the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters in exchange for the draft rights of Elmer Espiritu. This was done because Talk 'N Text had just traded away Mac Cardona. He was able to contribute as Talk 'N Text won the 2010–11 Philippine Cup. He then had clutch free throws in a win over the Meralco Bolts during the 2011 Commissioner's Cup. The Tropang Texters won the Commissioner's Cup finals in six games. During the Governors' Cup, he had a career-high 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting from three in a win over the Powerade Tigers. For that performance, he won Player of the Week. The Texters topped the elimination round, but lost to the Petron Blaze Boosters in seven games in the finals.
2011–12 season.
In the Game 1 of their Philippine Cup semis against Petron, Fonacier scored half of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, and made two clutch free throws to secure the win. From there, they lost their next three games and went down 3–1, but they overcame that deficit and defeated Petron. Talk 'N Text beat the Powerade Tigers in the 2011–12 Philippine Cup finals and he was chosen as Finals MVP. They made the finals once again in the Commissioner's Cup, but lost to the B-Meg Llamados in seven games. He won the Mr. Quality Minutes award that season for his valuable contributions off the bench and leading the team in minutes played.
2012–13 season.
Talk 'N Text started the 2012–13 season 4–0, with them getting their fourth win by Fonacier scoring 18 of his 26 points in the first half and hitting clutch shots in the fourth to go along with seven rebounds against the San Mig Coffee Mixers. They got their fifth straight win with him scoring seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Their streak ended at the hands of Alaska when he missed a shot that could have sent that game into overtime. Against Barangay Ginebra, he had 16 points, but fouled out of the game as Ginebra managed to hang on for the win. The Texters made it to the semifinals against Alaska where in Game 3, he had 21 points after not making any three pointers in the first two games. They managed to beat Alaska to return to the finals. From there, they swept Rain or Shine in four games. This championship was sweeter for Fonacier, as this was Coach Norman Black's first conference with TNT, and he was able to share this championship with multiple coaches from his time at Ateneo.
In the 2013 Commissioner's Cup, Fonacier had 18 points in a win over Petron. He then went on a shooting slump in his next nine games as he averaged 4.4 points on 22% shooting from the field. He also played in the All-Star Game during the 2013 All-Star Weekend as a member of Gilas Pilipinas. After his stint with Gilas, he returned for the 2013 Governors' Cup, in which he had 19 points in a win over the Globalport Batang Pier. They didn't qualify for the playoffs that conference, as they lost to Ginebra in the eighth seed playoff.
2013–14 season.
In the 2014 Commissioner's Cup, Fonacier had 16 points with four three-pointers in a win over the Barako Bull Energy as Talk 'N Text started the conference with four straight wins. He followed that up with 14 points in a win over Meralco. Heading into the All-Star break, the Texters were 7–0. He then participated in the Three-Point Shootout during the 2014 All-Star Weekend and was an All-Star playing for Gilas once again.
2014–15 season.
In the 2014–15 Philippine Cup, Fonacier had 11 points with back to back threes at the end of the third quarter in a win over Barako. In a close Commissioner's Cup game against NLEX in which they were up by one with eight seconds remaining, he called a timeout even though the team didn't have one. NLEX import Al Thornton tied the game on a technical free throw, but Fonacier's teammate Jayson Castro won the game for Talk 'N Text with a pull-up jumper. Talk 'N Text won the Commissioner's Cup title that season. In the Governors' Cup, he scored a season-high 20 points in a win over the Blackwater Elite.
2015–16 season.
During the offseason, Fonacier re-signed a three-year deal to stay with Talk 'N Text for three more years. The Texters got their first win of the season when he contributed 11 points against the Mahindra Enforcer. He then had 16 in a win over Blackwater. In the 2016 Commissioner's Cup, he missed a game against NLEX due to sickness. They lost to Alaska in a best-of-three quarterfinal series in that conference, despite 19 points from him in Game 3. They then started the Governors' Cup with six straight wins, but lost to Mahindra despite 13 points from him in that game. In a win over Globalport, he had 14 points and a crucial offensive rebound that allowed Ranidel de Ocampo to make the game-winning shot for TNT. He then had a season-high 21 points in 32 minutes off the bench to go along with seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal as they increased their record to