There remains one ultimate goal that June Mar Fajardo wishes to accomplish, even though he has already authored a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
“Grand Slam siyempre, ‘yun ‘yung pinaka-goal namin,” the 8-time PBA MVP said.
“Nakasulat nga ‘yun sa salamin doon sa kwarto ko: Win a Grand Slam.”
The Cebuano star said as much on Friday night, moments after San Miguel took the Season 49 Philippine Cup title following a 107-96 victory over long-time rivals TNT in Game 6 of the Finals at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
It further extended the proud ball club’s record championship count to 30, while Fajardo himself grew his personal collection of league crowns to 11.
Together, they achieved that by ending the Tropang 5G’s hopes of winning a rare treble, which has been the narrative surrounding the flagship MVP Group franchise after striking gold in the first two conferences of this season.
The recent result proved yet again how difficult it is to win a Grand Slam in Asia’s pioneering pro league. San Mig Coffee were the last to achieve the feat, back in 2014, which also made Tim Cone the only coach to win the triple crown twice.
Fajardo himself knows it extremely well, having gotten close to winning it only for him and the Beermen to fall short in the end — not once, but twice.
That isn’t stopping him from dreaming of bagging the Grand Slam one day, though, and it may further strengthen his case as the PBA’s greatest if he does.
“Alam ko naman na mahirap makakuha ng Grand Slam; hindi naman porke’t sinasabi natin na gusto natin mag-Grand Slam, makukuha natin agad eh. Kailangan natin pagtrabahuhan ‘yun,” said the 12-time BPC.
“Hindi naman na kami bumabata, pero gagawin namin lahat, ibibigay namin yung best namin hangga’t may ibibigay pa kami,” he added.
But at the moment, Fajardo is simply basking in their Philippine Cup success after he and San Miguel finished their story following last season’s heartbreak.
The Beermen lost the Jun Bernardino Trophy to Chris Newsome and Meralco in six. It feels poetic, then, that they completed their redemption tour in the same amount of games — albeit at the expense of TNT.
“Yung trophy nga nung nung last All-Filipino, nasa akin nga eh, ‘yung second place. Nilagay ko nga ‘yun sa gilid ng pinto ko, para ‘pag nadadaanan ko, nakikita ko lagi,” he disclosed. “‘Yun ‘yung dagdag motivation sa akin.”
Still, Fajardo wants more, with his sights set on winning as many PBA championships as he can, given where he is at this point in his career.
“Sabi ko nga kay Chris [Ross], hindi na kami bumabata,” he said. “So as much as possible, ‘pag nakakuha kami ng opportunity na ganito, iga-grab namin.
“Alam naman namin na hindi ganun kadali makakuha ng championship. Pero capable naman kami eh. Basta, healthy lang kami.”
