The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is set to open its doors for new members of its honor roll when it announces its 50 Greatest Players on 9 April.

One player, however, is expected to draw a lot of attention: Nelson Asaytono.

Drafted by Purefoods with the second overall pick in 1989, the 58-year-old Asaytono is regarded as one of the best PBA players who was never been part of the league’s greatest player of all time

He was snubbed not once — but twice — by the selection panel reportedly due to his lack of Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. The first was in 2000 when the league named its 25 Greatest Players and the second was in 2015 when the list was expanded to 40.

But this time, with 10 more names set to be added to the list as part of the league’s golden anniversary celebration, sideliners strongly believe that it’s about time for the rugged, hard-working forward to finally join the cream of the crop of the oldest professional league in Asia.

Leading the special panel tasked to screen those who deserve to be part of the latest batch of “greats” are former PBA commissioner Reunald “Sonny” Barrios, four-time PBA MVP Ramon Fernandez, 1979 MVP Fortunato “Atoy” Co, five-time champion coach Dante Silverio, sportscasters Joaquin Henson and Andy Jao and sportswriters Ding Marcelo, Al Mendoza and Nelson Beltran.

The body held its initial meeting on 6 February followed by another discussion last Wednesday to plot the composition of the “greatest” list.

Still, despite not having an MVP trophy in his collection after being beaten by Renato “Ato” Agustin in a tight race in 1992, there is no denying that Asaytono truly deserves to be part of the elite circle.

After all, he is a 10-time All-Star, a three-time Mythical First Team, four-time Mythical Second Team selection, a two-time Best Player of the Conference, and a former scoring champion during a colorful 17-year career from 1989 to 2005.

He also ranks fifth in the league’s all-time scoring list with a total of 12,268 points behind all-time greats Fernandez, Abet Guidaben, Alvin Patrimonio and Co. All in all, he averaged 15.0 points with 5.5 rebounds in 27 minutes of play per outing in 820 games played.

But more than that, the 6-foot-4 forward branded as “The Bull” for his aggressive style of game and sheer physical prowess turned teams like Purefoods, Swift, San Miguel Beer, Pop Cola and Red Bull into serious contenders until winning a total of six PBA championships.

The highlight of his career came in 1997 when San Miguel coach Ron Jacobs used him as his main offensive weapon. With that, he added three-point shooting to his arsenal, paving the way for him to win the league’s scoring crown with 23.1 points per game and winning the BPC award and back to back Philippine Cup titles.

He wrapped up his career at Red Bull, the squad mentored by his former coach, Yeng Guiao, when he was still with the RFM franchise.

“Nelson wasn’t given the proper recognition he deserves despite his greatness,” Guiao said in a previous statement, adding that Asaytono deserves his flowers after his controversial snubs in 2000 and 2015.

“There’s no question that Nelson is one of the greatest players ever, and for me, his inclusion in the all-time Greatest List is long overdue.”

Now, 10 years later, Asaytono is being nominated anew.

Hopefully, history will not repeat itself and “The Bull” gets the recognition he truly deserves.