Robbie Herndon

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Robbie Herndon
No. 11 – NLEX Road Warriors
Position
GlobalPort Batang Pier
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017–2019Magnolia Hotshots
2019–2022Alaska Aces
2022–2023San Miguel Beermen
2023–presentNLEX Road Warriors
Career highlights and awards

Robert Conrad Dixon Herndon Jr. (born July 16, 1993) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the

GlobalPort Batang Pier selected him as the sixth overall pick in the 2017 PBA draft.[1]

High school career

Herndon was a three-year varsity player.[2] In his senior year, he scored 17 points in the third quarter to lead his team to a win over Arcata.[3] He then had a game-winning layup against Sacred Heart Prep. He averaged 20.2 points,11.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals that year.[2] His head coach, Derek Walker called him "the best basketball player to come through St. Patrick's".

Herndon chose to play for the San Francisco State Gators, as it would allow his mother to watch his games.[2] He was also recruited by San Beda, a Filipino university, and Utah, a NCAA Division I Pac-12 university.[4]

Aside from basketball, Herndon was also a high school football athlete.[3] He had 10 touchdowns and nearly 800 receiving yards in his senior season.

College career

Herndon only played two years with San Francisco State.[4] He got his season high of 17 points to go with a team-high five rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a win over Cal State Dominguez Hills.[5]

In his final year with SF State, Herndon tied his college career-high of 21 points to go with six rebounds in 46 minutes as they lost in triple overtime to

Cal Poly Pomona.[8] After that season, he stopped playing basketball and focused on his studies.[9] He graduated as a criminal justice major.[4]

College statistics

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

[10]

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 SFSU 26 17.3 .410 .413 .740 3.0 .9 .8 .2 5.8
2012–13 22 21.8 .344 .203 .719 2.8 .9 .5 .0 6.5
Career 48 19.4 .372 .291 .732 2.9 .9 .7 .1 6.2

Amateur career

When Herndon stopped playing basketball, he considered becoming a fireman.[9] After getting his degree, he decided to try basketball once again and moved from California to Manila. In 2016, he won first place in the Manila Red Bull King of the Rock qualifier, beating out retired former PBA MVP Willie Miller.[11] However, he opted to focus on pursuing a basketball career in the PBA, and Miller took his place in the tournament.[12]

Herndon then entered the

Blustar Detergent Dragons Malaysia, in which he had a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds.[17] That conference, he averaged 18.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals.[4]

For the

Marinerong Pilipino Skippers.[21] In his debut for the Skippers, he had 16 points and 10 rebounds as they forced a do-or-die Game 2 in the quarterfinals.[22] In that Game 2, he had two clutch offensive rebounds to bring his total to 13 boards to go along with his 13 points and two steals as the Skippers moved on the semifinals.[23] In the semifinals, they lost to the Cignal HD Hawkeyes via sweep.[24]

Professional career

Magnolia Hotshots (2017–2019)

Herndon was then drafted sixth overall in the first round of the

GlobalPort Batang Pier. On November 3, 2017, before playing a game with the team, Herndon was traded along with fellow rookie Gian Abrigo to the Magnolia Hotshots for Lervin Flores, Joseph Gabayni, and Julian Sargent, who are also all rookies.[25] He was signed to a two-year contract.[26]

Days before the start of the

2017–18 Philippine Cup Finals, he had two clutch triples that helped Magnolia get the early series lead.[30] Magnolia went on to lose in the Philippine Cup Finals to SMB,[31] but they won the 2018 Governors' Cup, giving him his first PBA championship.[32] He was also selected to the All-Rookie Team that season.[33]

To begin the

Finals in seven games.[38]

Alaska Aces (2019–2022)

On November 3, 2019, Herndon, along with Rodney Brondial, was traded to the Alaska Aces for Chris Banchero.[39]

In Alaska's opening game of the

Blackwater Elite.[41] He contributed 13 points, four assists, and two steals as Alaska qualified for the playoffs.[42] In Alaska's final game of the elimination round, he produced 14 points and seven rebounds against the NLEX Road Warriors as they finished with a record of 7–4.[43] They lost to TNT in the quarterfinals.[44]

After starting the

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters, with him contributing 13 points.[45] He then had 15 in a loss to Terrafirma.[46] The Aces did not qualify for the playoffs that conference.[47] Alaska then started the Governors' Cup with a win over the NorthPort Batang Pier as he scored 13 points and the go-ahead jumper with 30.1 seconds remaining.[48] A day after it was announced that this season would be Alaska's last, he had nine points and a PBA career-high 14 rebounds in a win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.[49] Later that season, he contributed 17 points on five triples in a loss to Phoenix.[50] Alaska ended its final season in a quarterfinal loss to NLEX.[51]

San Miguel Beermen (2022–2023)

On June 6, 2022, Herndon signed a one-year deal with the

2022 Philippine Cup Finals against TNT, he got the chance to play in the fourth quarter of Game 3, as Beermen stars CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter had fouled out of the game.[56] He had a clutch triple, but a costly technical from him allowed TNT to send the game into overtime. He then scored the first five points of the OT period that allowed San Miguel to gain control of the series.[57] SMB won the Finals in Game 7.[58] In the Commissioner's Cup, he had 11 points and six rebounds in 30 minutes as he stepped up for the injured Chris Ross in a win over the Batang Pier.[59]

NLEX Road Warriors (2023–present)

On July 11, 2023, Herndon signed a two-year contract with the NLEX Road Warriors.[60]

PBA career statistics

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 2022–23 season[61]

Season-by-season averages

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Magnolia 50 10.1 .466 .368 .696 2.4 .4 .5 .1 3.5
2019 Magnolia 46 12.6 .420 .324 .471 2.9 .4 .5 .0 4.3
Alaska
2020 Alaska 12 26.7 .450 .373 .667 5.0 2.3 1.1 .1 12.5
2021 Alaska 19 21.7 .381 .333 .618 4.3 1.1 .6 .1 9.1
2022–23 San Miguel 33 10.0 .412 .329 .545 1.8 .4 .2 .1 3.7
Career 160 13.4 .424 .342 .612 2.8 .6 .5 .1 5.1

Personal life

Herndon’s father Robert Sr. is three-fourths Filipino who traces his roots to Mactan, Cebu.[62][9] His father is a police officer in Vallejo, California, and member of the SWAT team, while his mother is a real estate agent. His grandfather is half-Filipino and his grandmother is Filipina.

Herndon is friends with former PBA import Marqus Blakely.[62] He has also played pick-up basketball games with boxer and former senator Manny Pacquiao.[4] Pacquiao was the one who convinced Herndon's agent that he could play in the PBA. He is also friends with Fil-Am PBA player Mikey Williams. Herndon defended Williams after he was seen at SMB's championship party as William's team TNT had just lost to SMB.[63]

Herndon has cited Kobe Bryant as his influence growing up.[4]

References

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