Like father, like son?

When June Mar Fajardo pulled down 31 rebounds in San Miguel Beer’s title-clinching 72-71 victory over Magnolia in Game 6 of the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, he didn’t just break the local record; he also shattered the longest-standing individual mark in league history.

The late Marcelo Simbulan’s record of 29 rebounds — set during Seven-Up’s 95-111 loss to Carrier in the league’s inaugural 1975 season — had stood for nearly 44 years until Fajardo reset the record on 15 May 2019 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Fajardo’s heroics fueled a legendary comeback, helping the Beermen erase a 17-point third-quarter deficit and overcome series deficits of 0-1, 1-2, and 2-3 to claim their fifth straight All-Filipino title and their 26th overall championship.

With Simbulan’s mark erased, the PBA’s longest-standing individual record is now the 13 blocks recorded by Toyota import Andy Fields in a 94-97 loss to Crispa on 21 April 1981.

After nearly 45 years, I expect this record to finally fall, given the influx of giants and elite shot-blockers in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup.

The leading candidate to crush that record? Bol Bol.

The 7-foot-3 South Sudanese-American import of TNT Tropang 5G made an immediate defensive impact in his PBA debut last Friday. Despite a 109-112 loss to Rain or Shine in a physical, fight-marred contest, Bol swatted away five shots to go along with 38 points and 16 rebounds.

In TNT’s subsequent victory — the franchise’s 800th win in 30 years — Bol’s blocks dipped to just two, likely because he was busy offensively, finishing with a dominant 40-point, 15-rebound.

At just 26 years old and possessing a legendary defensive pedigree, Bol is only getting started.

Most fans recognize him from his time with the Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, and Phoenix Suns, but they also know his lineage. His father, the late Manute Bol — listed anywhere from 7-foot-6 to 7-foot-7 — remains one of the most prolific shot-blockers in NBA history.

The elder Bol is the only player in NBA history to record 15 blocks in a game twice, a feat he achieved as a rookie for the Washington Bullets in 1985-86. To this day, Manute holds the second-highest single-game block total in NBA history, trailing only Elmore Smith’s 17-block performance, which he recorded when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-98, on 28 October 1973.

With the way he plays for the Tropang 5G, Bol Bol has the tools to not only shatter the PBA’s all-time blocking record, but perhaps even challenge the milestones that his father set in the NBA. Beyond the blocks, I also wouldn’t be surprised to see him become the first player in PBA history to record a rare quadruple-double.

But that’s a topic for a future column.