It was a bittersweet night, but June Mar Fajardo feels blessed after earning 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference honors.
The league’s only six-time Most Valuable Player grew his record number of BPC titles to nine following his coronation on Sunday night, a scenario that he himself doubted that he’ll ever be in again after that leg injury over two years ago.
“Nag-cross sa ano ko ‘yan,” he admitted, when asked if he ever felt any uncertainty that he could still go back to his old form.
In retrospect, Fajardo suffered a fractured shin during a Beermen practice back in February of 2020. And his road to recovery suffered some minor bumps along the way, which prolonged his stay away from the game to over a year.
That’s why one can’t blame him for having doubts if he can still be the same ‘Kraken’ dreaded by the league. But never was there any quit in him.
“Kailangan ko i-prove sa sarili ko na hindi ako tatalunin ng injury ko,” said the 32-year-old center.
“Good thing, nalagpasan ko ‘yun.”
Fajardo definitely proved that no injury can pull him back, and there’s no better way for that to be validated than by being bestowed with the BPC title.
(C) PBA Images
“Thankful ako kay God, sa mga teammates ko, sa managements, sa lahat ng mga tumulong sa akin,” said the Cebuano star as he expressed gratitude to all those who helped him during those tough times. “Thankful ako sa kanila.”
It’s quite unfortunate, however, that Fajardo can’t celebrate his achievement. His San Miguel lost to Jayson Castro and TNT in Game Four, 100-87, allowing the reigning champions to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
He didn’t hide his regret over the defeat but the eight-time champion is staying optimistic and is only looking forward to redeeming themselves in the next match on Wednesday also at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Alam naman namin na malakas yung Talk N Text eh. Ganoon talaga. Good thing series ‘to,” he said.
“Na-reduce ‘yung series sa best-of-three. May dalawang araw kami para mag-practice, para mag-regroup.”
—
The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
