Three veterans will be in the limelight when the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Press Corps holds its 30th Awards Night on 24 September at the Novotel Manila in Araneta Center in Quezon City.
Meralco’s do-it-all forward Cliff Hodge emerged as the Defensive Player of the Year while Barangay Ginebra skipper LA Tenorio and Magnolia slotman Sangalang are the recipients of the Bogs Adornado Comeback Player of the Year award from the group of sportswriters who regularly covers Asia’s pioneer professional basketball league.
The event starts at 7:30 p.m. and is presented by Cignal.
As the Bolts’ long-time pillar at the post, the 36-year-old Hodge averaged 9.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists, while providing tons of hustle and hard work that were hardly reflected in the stats sheet.
Hodge has been with Meralco since 2012 when it selected him No. 4 overall in the Rookie Draft. He played a major part when the franchise finally won its first ever PBA title against a highly-favored San Miguel Beer squad in six games of the Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals showdown last season.
Hodge joins the likes of Marc Pingris, Chris Jackson, Arwind Santos, Freddie Abuda, Chris Ross, June Mar Fajardo, among others, who were past recipients of the prestigious award.
Tenorio and Sangalang, on the other hand, will be honored for their successful return to active duty after their respective bouts with career-threatening illnesses.
Sangalang was previously diagnosed with hyperthyroidism that led him to miss the rest of the league’s Season 47 with Magnolia.
Tenorio’s health condition was an open case the moment the Barangay Ginebra team captain announced he was stricken with stage three colon cancer. His situation made him skip the Season 47 Governors’ Cup that finally ended his league record of 744 consecutive games played.
But following their respective treatments, both Sangalang and Tenorio are back in the pink of health and playing again for their respective teams, healthy enough to receive the special award named after Adornado, the PBA great who successfully came back from two career-threatening knee injuries and became a three-time league Most Valuable Player.