By REYNALD MAGALLON
It has been a long time coming but at last, Nelson “the Bull” Asaytono will finally get his well-deserved flowers.
Asaytono, after being one of the biggest snubs through the first two instances that the league inducted players to its “Greatest List”, is finally part of the legendary company after the PBA Selection Committee formally announced the names of the 10 players to be added to the list on Wednesday, April 2.
Save for missing a Most Valuable Player award during his time – which if he only had gotten, he would have been a lock in the first 25 Greatest List – Asaytono had practically done everything in his career to be considered as one of the best ever.
He is a seven-time champion and a three-time Mythical First Team winner. He was widely regarded as one of the greatest players to not win an MVP award although he came close twice to bagging it, only to lose to Ato Agustin in 1992 and to Alvin Patrimonio in 1997.
He was part of the league’s 5,000 points club and even a more elite list in the 10,000 points club where he only trails Ramon Fernandez, Abet Guidaben, Alvin Patrimonio and Atoy Co.
Despite that, his accolades were not deemed good enough to crack the first 25 and eventually the next 15 in the 40 Greatest List.
But the stars finally aligned for Asaytono this time around with the members of the selection committee – which included fellow PBA greats in Fernandez, Co, and Allan Caidic – all agreeing that he’s very much deserving to make it to the list.
“Siya ho yung nahirang na common duon sa siyam na namili, ibig sabihin ang pananaw ng members ng selection committee ay karapat dapat lamang. At sa nakikita ko, wala hong kaduda duda na talagang deserving po siya,” said committee chairman and former PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios.
Caidic also vouched for Asaytono’s inclusion, citing how Asaytono was a consistent MVP contender during his prime years.
“Well deserved naman siya talaga. Sabi ko nga twice siyang natalo sa MVP race. He’s leading the statistical points he lost twice sa MVP race,” said Caidic.
Asaytono was actually part of the four players who got the majority votes after each member of the committee was asked to make their lists, finishing just behind the first unanimous choice in Abe King.
“You can see immediately the common trend out of the nine voting selection members yung walong napili nila more than 80 percent of the total 100 percent ang resulta ng napili nilang walo,” said Barrios.
‘In fact ang top 4, almost 92 percent ng potential 100 percent ang commonality,” he added
