Sol Mercado

Sol Mercado
Solomon Jemuel Rayos Mercado (born May 6, 1984) is a Filipino-American former professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known as the "Sol-Train", he had an impressive PBA rookie season and eventually became a reliable point guard for most of the teams he played for.
Professional career
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
Mercado was originally drafted by the Alaska Aces as the fifth pick in the 2008 PBA draft. However, he was immediately traded to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, together with Eddie Laure for Joe Devance and the 2009 and 2010 second round picks of Alaska.
With all the focus on Gabe Norwood, that year's first pick overall, and not much hype Mercado scored a record 29 points in his rookie debut game, the highest since Asi Taulava scored 32 points for Mobiline in his winning debut. This achievement made him the PBA Player of the Week for the opening week. Since then, he slowly became one of the PBA's elite point guards.
PBA Fiesta Conference 2009
If not for a hamstring injury that sidelined him in a couple of games into their semifinal series against the Barangay Ginebra Kings, Rain or Shine would probably have gone farther in the Fiesta Conference. A member of the All-Rookie Team, Mercado finished second to teammate Gabe Norwood for Rookie of the Year honors. Mercado emerged as the team's top scorer with 13.5 points per game and his 4.5 assists per night did not only lead the team but was also number 6 overall among locals. The only glitch in his rookie season was his 2.9 turnovers per game which ranked seventh overall and led the rookies in that category.
Sophomore Season (Philippine Cup)
He was the team's cornerstone as he became one of the leaders for the Painters. He scored a career-high 35 points in a loss to Alaska. Against the Coca-Cola Tigers in a knockout game, he scored 28 points to lead them into the quarterfinals. But unfortunately they would end up short after losing to the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants.
PBA Fiesta Conference 2010
He averaged 17.7 points in the eliminations then had a 45-point outburst against the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados. In another knock out game against the Tigers, he delivered crucial plays, despite fouling out, in a come from behind win. Against the Llamados in Game 3, he almost recorded a triple double with 16 points 15 assists and nine rebounds. But, in Game 5 of the series, they lost to the Llamados. During this time, he had to deal with his father being in critical condition due to a severe heart attack.
Meralco Bolts
Before the start of the 2011 PBA Commissioner's Cup, he and Jay-R Reyes were among the eight players involved in the three-way trade between Meralco, Rain or Shine and Air21 in what was easily one of the biggest trades that happened in that season. Mercado, along with Paolo Bugia were shipped to the Bolts for Beau Belga.
In a 2012 Governors' Cup game, Mercado scored 24 points in a win over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters. During the 2012–13 Philippine Cup, he had 24 points and nine assists in a win over Globalport. In their quarterfinal series against Alaska, he was injured, and Meralco did not advance.
GlobalPort Batang Pier
Before the start of the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup, he along with Kelly Nabong, Jaypee Belencion and Yousif Aljamal were traded to GlobalPort Batang Pier for Rey Guevarra, Vic Manuel, Josh Vanlandingham and a 2015 first round pick. This made him the first-ever player in PBA history to be traded or moved to another team after leading the league in scoring and assists the previous conference.
During the Commissioner's Cup, Mercado had three straight games where he had double-doubles. He then had to sit out the rest of the conference as not to aggravate a right shoulder injury. During the 2013 Governors' Cup, tension arose between him and his coach Junel Baculi over an uncalled timeout in a loss to the Barako Bull Energy. The following game, he bounced back as he scored all of his 15 points in the second half in a comeback win over Meralco as they came back from 20 points down. He was able to lead Globalport to its first playoff appearance, where they lost to the defending Governors' Cup champion Rain or Shine.
The following season, Mercado played a part in the early development of rookie teammate Terrence Romeo by becoming his mentor. During the 2013–14 Philippine Cup, he scored a conference-high 33 points, with 19 of those coming in the second half of a comeback win over Meralco. He missed several games due to a strain on his right Achilles.
San Miguel Beermen
Before the start of the 2014 PBA Commissioner's Cup, Mercado was traded to San Miguel in exchange for Alex Cabagnot. The 2014 PBA Governors' Cup was one of the worst conferences of his career, as he averaged just 7.6 points on 35% shooting from the field.
Return to GlobalPort
Before the 2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup trade deadline, just before the playoffs, Mercado was traded back to GlobalPort, together with San Miguel's 2018 and 2019 second round picks, in exchange for Cabagnot. He didn't approve of the trade, comparing the trade to someone going back to a bad ex-girlfriend on his Twitter account. His only game in this stint was when Globalport was kicked out of the playoffs by Ginebra, in which he had nine points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Barako Bull Energy
On January 8, 2015, Mercado was traded again by GlobalPort, this time to Barako Bull which gave up Denok Miranda and a 2016 second round pick. To begin the 2015 Commissioner's Cup, he had 20 points, three assists, and a steal in a winning debut over the Blackwater Elite.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
2014–15 season
On May 4, 2015, before the start of 2015 PBA Governors' Cup Mercado was traded to Barangay Ginebra in exchange of Joseph Yeo. He debuted for Barangay Ginebra on May 8, 2015, with eight points and eight assists, against the team that drafted him, the Alaska Aces, but his new team lost. He missed a game that conference due to food poisoning. Against another of his former teams, Barako Bull, he scored 14 points to help Ginebra get the win. They faced Alaska in the playoffs, where he had 21 points and seven assists, but it wasn't enough as Alaska ended Ginebra's season.
2015–16 season
In the offseason, Ginebra changed head coaches, with Tim Cone taking over. During a Philippine Cup Christmas Day game against the Star Hotshots, Mercado missed what could have been the game-winning layup and the game went into overtime. In overtime, he scored six points and made the assist to LA Tenorio for the game-winning triple. In a Commissioner's Cup loss to Talk 'N Text, he had 11 points with three three-pointers. Against Alaska in a Governors' Cup elimination game, he had 22 points but lost. He then started at small forward for the injured Chris Ellis, and contributed 19 points and four assists in a win over Meralco. He scored 19 again in a win versus Rain or Shine with six threes, becoming more adjusted to Coach Cone's system. In the playoffs, Ginebra advanced past Alaska in the quarterfinals. In the semis, they went up against sister team San Miguel, where in Game 1, he had 19 points, five assists, three boards, and one steal in 36 minutes off the bench as Ginebra went up 1–0. At the end of five games, Ginebra advanced to the Finals. There he faced his former team in Meralco. In Game 2, he defended Meralco's import Allen Durham, and scored the game-winning putback, tying the series. The following game, he got into foul trouble, allowing Durham to dominate with 36 points and 20 rebounds as Ginebra lost. After eight seasons in the PBA, he finally got his first PBA championship when Ginebra import Justin Brownlee made the game-winning three pointer in Game 6.
2016–17 season
In a Philippine Cup loss to San Miguel, Mercado had 11 points and six rebounds. In the playoffs, he had 12 points and six assists to force a do-or-die game against Alaska. They moved on to the semis against the Hotshots where in Game 2, he missed a game-tying layup that sent Ginebra into a 0–2 deficit. He bounced back the following game with 16 points and two clutch threes that led to Star's first loss of the series. In Game 4, he got into a confrontation with Hotshots guard Jio Jalalon, but was still able to help Ginebra tie the series. In Game 6, he had a game-high 21 points (with 12 coming in the fourth quarter) while holding Paul Lee to just eight points to force a Game 7. This earned him PBA Player of the Week honors. In Game 7, he led the team with 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists while holding Lee to just four points, and Ginebra returned to the Finals. There, Ginebra fell to the Beermen in five games. During the 2017 All-Star Week, he competed in the Obstacle Challenge. In the Governors' Cup, he helped Ginebra return to the Finals for a rematch with Meralco. In Game 4 of the Finals, he sprained his left ankle when he blocked Meralco's Jared Dillinger. He wasn't able to play the rest of the Finals, but Ginebra still won its second straight Governors' Cup title.
2017–18 season
In the Philippine Cup, Mercado helped Ginebra clinch a spot in the semifinals by putting up solid numbers against Rain or Shine. There, they lost to San Miguel in five games. In the Commissioner's Cup, he suffered a rib injury. He made his return during the Governor's Cup.
2019 season
In a loss to the Batang Pier, Mercado had a double-double of 10 points and 11 assists. They entered the Philippine Cup playoffs as the third seed. There, they were defeated by the Hotshots. In a Commissioner's Cup win over Meralco, he had 14 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and a steal. In his final game with Ginebra, he had 12 points as Ginebra got their 1,000th franchise win.
NorthPort Batang Pier
On June 18, 2019, Mercado, along with Jervy Cruz and Kevin Ferrer, was traded back to the Batang Pier for Stanley Pringle. This was his third stint with the Batang Pier franchise. In his first game back, he started and added 14 markers, five caroms, five dimes, a steal, and a block in a win over Blackwater. He had 12 points in a win over Meralco. The Batang Pier faced Ginebra in the Governors' Cup semifinals where in Game 1, he added 14 points to a blowout of Ginebra. In Game 2 however, he twisted his ankle after stepping on Tenorio's foot, and had to leave the game. He was deemed out for the rest of the playoffs.
On January 20, 2020, Mercado was traded to the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters for LA Revilla and Rey Guevarra. He never played for Phoenix however as contract negotiations fell through.
PBA career statistics
Season-by-season averages
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Rain or Shine
| 36 || 31.1 || .389 || .263 || .622 || 3.3 || 4.5 || .8 || .1 || 13.5
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Rain or Shine
| 46 || 34.5 || .413 || .315 || .683 || 3.8 || 4.6 || 1.2 || .2 || 16.7
|-
| align=left rowspan=2|
| align=left | Rain or Shine
| rowspan=2|29 || rowspan=2|37.1 || rowspan=2|.393 || rowspan=2|.282 || rowspan=2|.592 || rowspan=2|5.0 || rowspan=2|4.8 || rowspan=2|1.1 || rowspan=2|.2 || rowspan=2|17.7
|-
| align=left | Meralco
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Meralco
| 37 || 31.5 || .384 || .266 || .551 || 3.6 || 3.8 || 1.1 || .3 || 13.6
|-
| align=left rowspan=2|
| align=left | Meralco
| rowspan=2|37 || rowspan=2|35.5 || rowspan=2|.393 || rowspan=2|.272 || rowspan=2|.691 || rowspan=2|3.6 || rowspan=2|6.9 || rowspan=2|1.0 || rowspan=2|.2 || rowspan=2|16.2
|-
| align=left | GlobalPort
|-
| align=left rowspan=2|
| align=left | GlobalPort
| rowspan=2|33 || rowspan=2|30.6 || rowspan=2|.375 || rowspan=2|.191 || rowspan=2|.646 || rowspan=2|3.3 || rowspan=2|4.2 || rowspan=2|.6 || rowspan=2|.1 || rowspan=2|12.3
|-
| align=left | San Miguel
|-
| align=left rowspan=4|
| align=left | San Miguel
| rowspan=4|33 || rowspan=4|26.7 || rowspan=4|.390 || rowspan=4|.200 || rowspan=4|.651 || rowspan=4|2.9 || rowspan=4|3.8 || rowspan=4|.7 || rowspan=4|.1 || rowspan=4|8.5
|-
| align=left | GlobalPort
|-
| align=left | Barako Bull
|-
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
| 48 || 25.0 || .410 || .324 || .565 || 2.7 || 3.2 || .5 || .1 || 8.1
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
| 57 || 24.4 || .394 || .250 || .561 || 3.2 || 3.3 || .7 || .2 || 7.8
|-
| align=left |
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
| 44 || 20.6 || .408 || .321 || .625 || 2.4 || 2.5 || .8 || .3 || 6.5
|-
| align=left rowspan=2|
| align=left | Barangay Ginebra
| rowspan=2|39 || rowspan=2|19.6 || rowspan=2|.415 || rowspan=2|.278 || rowspan=2|.535 || rowspan=2|2.6 || rowspan=2|2.6 || rowspan=2|.8 || rowspan=2|.2 || rowspan=2|5.5
|-
| align=left | NorthPort
|-
|-class=sortbottom
| align=center colspan=2 | Career
| 439 || 28.3 || .396 || .275 || .625 || 3.3 || 3.9 || .8 || .2 || 11.1
International career
Mercado played for Puerto Rico's youth basketball teams when he was around 12-13 years old. He received offers to play for its national team.
Mercado was also a member of the Philippine National Basketball team, Smart Gilas. He was personally handpicked by Rajko Toroman alongside Kelly Williams and Asi Taulava. He played for the Philippines in the 2012 William Jones Cup. He was on the roster for the 2010 Asian Games, but didn't get to play due to injuries on both of his feet. Although he is ineligible for FIBA events, he served as a practice player for Gilas' FIBA tournaments.
Philippine Team Statistics
|-
| align="left" | 2012 William Jones Cup
| align="left" | Smart Gilas
| 8 || 17.25 || .178 || 0.00 || .575 || 3.125 || 2.875 || 0.5 || 0.125 || 5.63
Personal life
Mercado is half-Filipino and half-Puerto Rican, with his mother Rosalie from Pampanga and his father Aaron from Puerto Rico. His father died at age 51 in 2012 due to a heart attack.
Mercado was previously engaged to actress Denise Laurel. However, on October 20, 2016, a day after Ginebra won their first title after 8 years, Laurel announced through her Instagram account that they have ended their relationship.
On September 29, 2021, Mercado and beauty queen Sandra Lemonon announced on their respective Instagram accounts that they are in a relationship. They got engaged the following year and welcomed their first son Zaiah Rafael that year as well.
References
1984 births
Living people
Barako Bull Energy players
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players
Basketball players at the 2010 Asian Games
Basketball players from California
Biola Eagles men's basketball players
NorthPort Batang Pier players
Meralco Bolts players
Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars
Philippines men's national basketball team players
Filipino men's basketball players
Point guards
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters players
San Miguel Beermen players
Shooting guards
American men's basketball players
Asian Games competitors for the Philippines
Alaska Aces (PBA) draft picks
American sportspeople of Filipino descent
Sportspeople from Yolo County, California
Filipino people of Puerto Rican descent