Carlos Badion
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men’s Basketball | ||
Competitor for  Philippines
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| FIBA Asia Championship | ||
| Gold | 1960 Manila | Team competition |
| Asian Games | ||
| Gold | 1958 Tokyo | Team competition |
Carlos Velasco Badion (born August 16, 1935 in Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines -June 20, 2002, 5th of 6 siblings of Clemencia Velasco and Pablo Badion) is a former Filipino basketball player. Although born in Pampanga, he grew up in Antonio Rivera Tondo, Manila where he started his checkered career playing in sandlot tournaments and for Abad Santos High. At 5'10½" tall, he was first spotted in an interscholastic tournament by Valerio Lopez of Mapua where he subsequently enrolled. He eventually shone in the NCAA and the MICAA, playing for such teams as the Jacinto Rubber Shoes, Crispa (where he became one of the pioneering members of that team) and YCO.
Known as the "Bad Boy" of Philippine basketball because of his unforgiving and physical defense, Badion popularized the moves that came to be known as the "bicycle drive" and the "jackknife layup," moves which young players tried to imitate during the 1950s. He starred for the Philippine national team in two Olympic tournaments and the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games where he and his teammates won the gold medal. He was also a vital cog of the national team that finished seventh in a 15-nation men's basketball tournament in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, playing alongside the likes of Carlos Loyzaga, Antonio Genato, Ramon Campos Jr., Ramon Manulat, Martin Urra and Mariano Tolentino.
Voted Mr. Basketball by the Philippine Sportswriters Association eventually made a movie with the same title together with actor Bob Soler in 1957, Badion was also a mainstay of the team that won the inaugural staging of the Asian Basketball Confederation Championship held in Manila in 1960 together with Loyzaga, Kurt Bachmann, Loreto Carbonell, and Eduardo Lim. He was named to the All-Star team with Loyzaga and Most Valuable Player of the said tournament.
Unfortunately, Badion suffered a serious knee injury during the Philippines’ first round game against Uruguay in the 1960 Rome Olympics which ultimately forced him into early retirement. He then went into a number of business ventures after retiring and even once became the customs coordinator for Elizalde and Co. He started his coaching in 1975, leading the Mapua Cardinals to the NCAA title and the UST women’s basketball team to the UAAP title. He also handled the UST Glowing Goldies in the UAAP and the Army Jungle Fighters in the Philippine Basketball League.
Badion died of a heart attack on June 20, 2002.
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