San Miguel Beer star June Mar Fajardo is on the right track to clinch an eighth Most Valuable Player (MVP) award following another stellar performance in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 48.
The Beermen big man is leading by a mile over his closest pursuer after amassing 42.1 statistical points (SPs) to end the season while leading San Miguel to two finals appearances including a championship in the Commissioner’s Cup.
Fajardo led the league in rebounding with 13.4 boards per game in the season that has passed. The Gilas Pilipinas member also averaged 17.8 points, 2.8 assists, 1.7 blocks and 0.7 steals.
The 34-year-old Fajardo was also named Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference, his 10th overall.
Behind Fajardo, who holds the PBA record for most MVPs, by more than five SPs is Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Christian Standhardinger, who collected 37.8 SPs.
Standhardinger averaged 19.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.4 blocks per game.
Fajardo’s teammate CJ Perez is at No.3 with 37.4 SPs. The Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference normed 18.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.2 blocks.
NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino is at the fourth spot with 35.9 SPs followed by TNT’s Calvin Oftana (35.4).
Meanwhile, Terrafirma’s Stephen Holt is the runaway leader in the Rookie of the Year race after placing sixth in the statistical list with 34.1 SPs.
The top overall pick in the last Draft led all newcomers in scoring, assists and steals.
He averaged 17.0 points, 5.5 dishes and 1.9 takeaways on top of 6.9 rebounds per game while leading the Dyip to their first playoff appearance in eight years after advancing in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup.
Cade Flores of NorthPort is way behind Holt in the Rookie of the Year derby with 23.2 SPs while Adrian Nocum of Rain or Shine (21.8 SPs), Ken Tuffin of Phoenix (21.5 SPs), and Christian David of Blackwater (17.8 SPs) make up the Top 5 freshmen.
