Kevin Louie Platon Alas (born November 13, 1991) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted second overall by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2014 PBA draft.[1]

Kevin Alas
No. 7 – NLEX Road Warriors
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
LeaguePBA
Personal information
Born (1991-11-13) November 13, 1991 (age 33)
Las Piñas, Philippines
NationalityFilipino
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High schoolLetran (Manila)
CollegeLetran
PBA draft2014: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
Playing career2014–present
Career history
2014–2015Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters
2015–presentNLEX Road Warriors
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Philippines
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Hangzhou Team
FIBA Asia Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Wuhan Team
Southeast Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2013 Naypyidaw Team

Early life and amateur career

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Alas attended Grade School at Blessed Trinity School in Las Piñas and began playing organized basketball when he was in the 5th grade. The following year, he transferred to Letran where he would soon engage in more competitive tournaments. He would eventually make the Letran Squires lineup during his 2nd year in high school. Along with his brother, Junjun, and Mythical Five member John Noble, Kevin helped lead the Squires to the NCAA Juniors Finals in 2007 where they got swept in two games by a powerhouse San Sebastian Staglets team that featured Ryan Buenafe and Arvie Bringas. The following season, his last with the Squires, Letran made it back to the finals setting up a rematch with San Sebastian. But, once again, the Staglets dominated the Squires, sweeping them again to complete a historic four-peat and a perfect 14–0 record in the NCAA juniors division. But, despite two heartbreaking defeats, Kevin did not fail to impress talent scouts as a number of schools were interested in acquiring his services for the college game. Ironically, Alas trained with an old Letran rival, De La Salle University where he practiced for nearly two months before making his decision on which school to play for in college. Without any advice or influence from anybody, including his father, who gave him the free hand to select a school, Kevin personally decided that it would be best for him to stay with Letran.

He played his collegiate career with the Letran Knights and won two Mythical 5 selections in Seasons 87 and 88 then after losing to the San Beda Red Lions in the 2012 finals series, he elected to forgo his final playing year to join Gilas Pilipinas.[2] During his time with Gilas, he was a key part of the team's gold medal finish in the 2013 SEA Games and a bronze medal finish in the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup.

He also played for the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA D-League and led the team to several championships. By the time his D-League stint is over, he then decided to apply for 2014 PBA draft along with his elder brother, Junjun.

Professional career

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Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters (2014–2015)

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Alas was drafted 2nd overall by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters during the 2014 PBA draft, and signed a three-year deal with the team. He was groomed to take over the starting point guard spot since at that time when he was drafted, starting point guard Paul Lee requested to be traded to another team. However, when Lee decided to stay with Rain or Shine, Alas became expendable, thus they decided to trade him to NLEX for a 2015 first round pick.[3] He was traded once again, this time to NLEX's sister team Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters, in a deal that sent Niño Canaleta to the Road Warriors, with Blackwater Elite as conduit which acquired Larry Rodriguez and 2015 1st round draft pick of Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters.[4]

NLEX Road Warriors (2015–present)

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On August 25, 2015, Alas, along with forward Rob Reyes, was traded by Talk 'N Text to Mahindra Enforcer in exchange for Troy Rosario. He was then quickly traded back to Talk 'N Text's sister team NLEX Road Warriors in exchange for forwards Niño Canaleta and Aldrech Ramos.[5]

On September 1, 2020, Alas signed a three-year contract extension with the team.[6] On September 14, 2023, he signed another three-year contract extension with the team.[7]

PBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

As of the end of 2023–24 season[8]

Season-by-season averages

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Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2014–15 Talk 'N Text 40 18.7 .398 .287 .644 1.9 1.8 .3 .2 6.5
2015–16 NLEX 35 26.2 .391 .292 .685 2.8 1.7 .5 .1 7.4
2016–17 NLEX 34 26.1 .443 .253 .579 3.9 2.6 .7 .2 11.6
2017–18 NLEX 18 24.7 .428 .286 .784 5.1 2.7 .8 .2 11.1
2019 NLEX 9 17.6 .293 .333 .636 2.2 2.6 .6 5.2
2020 NLEX 10 27.3 .444 .318 .818 6.3 4.2 .7 .1 16.2
2021 NLEX 30 30.6 .401 .221 .756 4.4 4.4 1.1 .3 14.2
2022–23 NLEX 35 30.1 .482 .371 .703 4.8 4.1 .9 .1 16.7
2023–24 NLEX 3 22.3 .500 .273 .529 3.3 2.7 1.0 12.0
Career 214 25.6 .426 .291 .693 3.7 2.9 .7 .2 11.0

National team career

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In November 2017, Alas was named as part of the Gilas Pilipinas line-up that will compete at the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Chinese Taipei. In February 2018, he was again included to compete against Australia and on their second meeting against Japan.

Personal life

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He is the second of four siblings. His father is his former coach in college, former Letran coach and former Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters head coach Louie Alas.[9] He is also the younger brother of fellow 2014 draft classmate Junjun Alas as well as cousin to historian Pepe Alas.[10]

He is married to courtside reporter Selina Dagdag.[11][12]

References

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  1. ^ "2014 PBA Draft Results". InterAksyon. August 24, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  2. ^ Flores, Celest R. (February 8, 2013). "Kevin Alas leaves Letran on final year, signs up with Smart Gilas". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  3. ^ "ALAS TO NLEX". Inquirer.net. October 4, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  4. ^ Beltran, Nelson (October 9, 2014). "Alas heads to TnT in 3-team trade deal". The Philippine Star. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Bracher, Jane (August 25, 2015). "Rosario to TNT, Alas to NLEX, Heruela to SMB headline slew of PBA trades". Rappler. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  6. ^ Matel, Philip (September 1, 2020). "NLEX guards Kiefer Ravena, Kevin Alas signed to new three-year deals". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  7. ^ Ramos, Gerry (September 14, 2023). "Kevin Alas agrees to new NLEX deal than turn unrestricted free agent". Spin.ph. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  8. ^ "Kevin Alas Profile, NLEX Road Warriors - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com.
  9. ^ Joble, Rey (November 10, 2012). "Louie Alas' advice to son Kevin: Play final year at Letran, pursue national team dream". InterAksyon. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  10. ^ Pepe (October 14, 2012). "Kevin Alas (/a.las/) is king of NCAA, not Kevin Alás (/aˈlas/)". FILIPINO eSCRIBBLES. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  11. ^ "PBA: Kevin Alas, courtside reporter Selina Dagdag marry in 'no frills' ceremony". ABS-CBN News. September 9, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  12. ^ "LOOK: Kevin Alas and Selina Dagdag have their dream wedding". Spin.ph. October 22, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2022.