He is also an actor who first featured in the MMFF film Otlum.[8][9]
Early life
Rivero was born and raised in Ilagan, Isabela to Ruzcko Rivero and Abigail Uy-Rivero.[10] He is of Chinese descent through his mother.[11]
He moved to Manila to complete his secondary education at La Salle Green Hills in Mandaluyong. In his final year of high school, he averaged 25.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.9 blocks in the elimination round for the Greenies, but lost to the Arellano Braves in the first round of the playoffs.[12] In 2016, Rivero joined the De La Salle Green Archers.[13]
College career
De La Salle Green Archers
In his rookie season, the Archers won the championship.[14]
In his sophomore season, Rivero averaged 14.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.7 steals.[15] He led the Archers to the Finals, and earned Mythical Team Honors. He also won the Most Improved Player award.[4] However, in January 2018, he was cut from the squad along with older brother Prince and reserve Brent Paraiso.[15] The school said his suspension from the team was due to his endorsement deals, which is in conflict with a team rule. Later, in April, he announced on Twitter that he would exit the team.
UP Fighting Maroons
In May 2018, Rivero announced on Twitter that he would be joining the UP Fighting Maroons.[16] He redshirted Season 81 due to UAAP's eligibility rules.[16]
In Season 82, the Maroons made it to the semifinals where they lost to the UST Growling Tigers.[17]
He played for UP in Season 84, despite getting offers to play overseas in Japan.[18][19] They won the championship that season.[20]
Professional career
On June 24, 2022, Rivero signed with the Taoyuan Pilots of the P. League+.[21] However, he was released before the season started due to an ankle injury.[22][23]
In 2016, he participated in the finale of Nike Rise Philippines, a reality documentary basketball development program aired on TV5.[32][33] He went up against Nike's final team along with other UAAP, NCAA and Perlas Pilipinas players.[32]
In 2018, he starred in his first film, Otlum.[8][9]
In 2020, Rivero became a permanent host of Brightlight Productions' Sunday Noontime Live!, which is aired on TV5 via a blocktime agreement.[34][35] When that show closed, he announced that he would take a break from acting to focus on his studies and basketball.[36]
Endorsements
Rivero is a very popular athlete, as he was named the "Most Tweeted and Most Talked-About Filipino Athlete" by Twitter Philippines.[37] He is an endorser for numerous companies such as Honda,[38]Globe,[39]Gatorade,[40]Nike,[41] and many more.
In 2021, he appeared in a Pepsi ad that was shown in Times Square, N.Y.C.[42]
On April 9, 2022, Rivero confirmed that he was officially in a relationship with actress Andrea Brillantes.[47][48] Their relationship lasted a little over a year before he announced on Twitter that they had split.[49] On October 22, 2023, Rivero confirmed that he is in a relationship with beauty queen and politician Leren Bautista.[50]
Before the start of UAAP Season 84, he pledged ₱250 to the UP Ikot Drivers Association who had been hit hard by the pandemic, for every point he scored.[51] He was able to raise ₱154,200, and other supporters rounded out the donations to a total of ₱200,000.[52]
