By Jonas Terrado
June Mar Fajardo remains a favorite to win a record fifth Most Valuable Player award despite trailing Stanley Pringle in the race after the PBA’s 43rd season.
The San Miguel Beer mainstay compiled 33.1 Statistical Points to finish second behind Pringle’s 35.5, though Fajardo appears to have the nod of the voters who will cast their selections before the league’s Leo Awards on Jan. 13.
The PBA has decided to stage it annual awards ceremony on the day it tips off its 44th season at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Forty percent of the statistics will be used to determine the winner while the remaining 60 are votes from the media (30%), players (25%) and the PBA Commissioner’s Office.
Other individual awards, namely the Mythical First and Second Teams and the Rookie of the Year, among others, are also up for grabs though players must played at 70 percent of the season to be eligible for the award.
The likes of Greg Slaughter, Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva and rookies Kiefer Ravena and Christian Standhardinger have been ruled out of any individual honors for failing to meet the criteria.
Fajardo has the edge over Pringle, especially after leading the Beermen to a fourth consecutive Philippine Cup crown last April while winning the Best Player of the Conference in the season’s first two conferences.
Pringle topped the race after emerging as NorthPort’s go-to-guy following the departure of Romeo earlier in the season.
Japeth Aguilar, who helped Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to the Commissioner’s Cup title, is third with 32.3 followed by NorthPort’s energizer bunny Sean Anthony at 31.3 and Phoenix’s Matthew Wright 30.0.
Rounding out the top 10 are San Miguel’s Marcio Lassiter (29.80), Arwind Santos (29.77) and Alex Cabagnot (29.74), Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson (29.6) and newly-acquired NLEX center Poy Erram (28.5). Governors’ Cup Best Player Paul Lee of Magnolia is ranked 14th (27.7).
Phoenix’s Jason Perkins is expected to bag the Rookie of the Year with 23.2, leading Alaska’s Jeron Teng (18.7) by a wide margin. Perkins emerged as the frontrunner after Ravena’s FIBA ban and Standhardinger’s absence in the Philippine Cup.
Fajardo is currently tied with Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio for the most number of MVPs with four each.
Winning another MVP will likely cement Fajardo’s place as one of the best in this era.
