Marcio Lassiter of San Miguel Beer could pull off a surprise when the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) formally announces its 50 Greatest Players during its 50th Anniversary celebration on 9 April at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Filipino-American sniper truly deserves a spot in the elite circle after emerging as the all-time leader in three-pointers, a feat that eclipsed the record achieved by some of the greatest snipers in the league like Allan Caidic and Jimmy Alapag.
Actually, it took Allan Caidic 601 games to knock down 1,242 treys while Alapag played a total of 598 games to drop 1,250 long bombs. On the other hand, Lassiter needed only 537 games to surpass Alapag’s feat, which he achieved during the first quarter of their 131-82 win over sister team Barangay Ginebra on 15 September.
Now, Lassiter has a total of 1,254 made treys — and counting — that gives him a chance to further raise the bar that would make it hard for the next generation of shooters to follow.
But Lassiter humbly deflected the credit, saying that he wouldn’t be able to achieve the golden milestone if not for his San Miguel coaches and teammates.
“When you get one to fall, you feel like the next one is going to fall. My teammates were looking for me,” said Lassiter, adding that his role as the chief gunner perfectly complements the inside game of eight-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo.
“Now that I’ve got it over with, I can now focus on the team. It’s always about the team.”
Leading the special panel tasked to screen those who will be added to the latest batch of “greats” are former PBA commissioner Reunald “Sonny” Barrios, four-time PBA Most Valuable Player Ramon Fernandez (MVP), 1979 MVP Fortunato “Atoy” Co, five-time champion coach Dante Silverio, basketball analysts Joaquin Henson and Andy Jao and sportswriters Ding Marcelo, Al Mendoza and Nelson Beltran.
But Lassiter is more than just a gunner. He is also a winner.
Since arriving in the country as part of Smart Gilas in 2009, the California State University Fullerton alumnus has been consistently winning, giving him 10 PBA titles and inclusions in the Mythical First Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Rookie Team with eight All-Star Game selections.
He also played for the national team when it won gold medals in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championship in 2011 in Jakarta, Southeast Asian Games in 2019 Manila and 2013 in Phnom Penh and, more importantly, in the 19th Asian Games in 2023 in Hangzhou that ended the country’s 61-year quest for a title.
Together with Fajardo, Arwind Santo, Chris Ross and Alex Cabagnot, Lassiter played a crucial role in the success of the “Death Five,” San MIguel’s starting roster that personifies its team-first approach that led to a massive success with 10 PBA titles.
True enough, Lassiter may not be a popular choice in the conversation for “greatest” list because he has yet to wind down his career, but he had already made an indelible impact in the league that puts premium on team play and sportsmanship.
And being the all-time leader in three-pointers — the most basic weapon in basketball — proves that “Super Marcio” truly deserves to sit in the same table with the greatest players ever to see action in the PBA.