Chris McCullough earned Most Valuable Player honors at the 43rd William Jones Cup.
The 6-foot-9 American posted averages of 21.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks during the nine-day tournament.
He is the fifth player from a Philippine team to win the top individual award in the midseason meet.
Previous MVP winners from the Philippines include Kenneth Duremdes (1998), LA Tenorio (2012), Dewarick Spencer (2016), and Renaldo Balkman (2019).
However, the honor came with controversy.
Netizens quickly noticed a drop in McCullough’s production during the title match between Strong Group and Chinese-Taipei on Sunday evening.
Averaging 22.42 points and 8.57 rebounds prior, McCullough was limited to just 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting and five rebounds before fouling out late in overtime.
Fans questioned whether McCullough threw the game due to his impending naturalization to Taiwan.
Moments after their 83-79 win over Chinese-Taipei, McCullough took to social media to address the situation.
“I always represent the flag wherever I play, so for some of you fans saying all this nonsense, it’s ridiculous. Because I didn’t have the best game in a championship match, now I fix games? Come on now,” he tweeted.
“It happens, and it is what it is. It’s always the next man up, and T (Tajuan Agee) stepped up big tonight! That’s the next man up mentality—he picked up my slack and got the job done!”
One thing that no one can deny now is that McCullough is once again a champion.
