Kenneth Celera Duremdes is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association and the current commissioner of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
In 1995, Kenneth Duremdes was selected by the Sunkist Orange Juicers as the 3rd overall in the rookie draft. His team won the PBA All-Filipino and the PBA Commissioner’s Cup conference titles despite playing a limited role behind 1995 MVP Vergel Meneses, Bonel Balingit, Nelson Asaytono and Boybits Victoria.
However, Kenneth Duremdes was on the bench for most of his time with the then-renamed Pop Cola 800s despite the departure of Asaytono from the team. After languishing on the bench, Pop Cola traded him and Jack Tanuan to Alaska for Dwight Lago and Boyet Fernandez.
After his arrival with the 1996 Grandslam champions, Duremdes’ career took a big rise. He had a strong showing with the Milkmen’s Governors Cup title conquest of Purefoods.
In 1998, Kenneth Duremdes led Alaska to the All-Filipino and Commissioner’s Cup titles during the said year. He also won the Commissioner’s Cup Best Player honors. Before leading the Philippines to a bronze-medal finish in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Duremdes was named as the league’s Most Valuable Player at age 24.
He continued to have MVP numbers from 1999–2000, in which he led the Milkmen to the 2000 All-Filipino title. After becoming a free agent, he signed a reported 48 million peso to stay with the Aces in 2001, despite offers from teams such as the Mobiline Phone Pals. With Alaska focusing itself on rebuilding the team, Duremdes became the top man for the Aces along with young players John Arigo and Ali Peek. In 2002, he again played for the country in the Busan Asian Games, becoming one of the most notable players on the squad. However, the squad failed to win a medal in the said event. Duremdes then led Alaska to a runner-up finish in the season-ending All-Filipino Conference.
In 2000, he became a member of the PBA’s 25 Greatest Player’s List, the youngest of the group.
