June Mar Fajardo joins a very exclusive group that only has two members
In only his fifth year in the PBA, June Mar Fajardo has bagged his fifth Best Player of the Conference crown, his fourth in the league’s All-Filipino conference. And he joins a two-man club, as both he and San Miguel Beermen legend Danny Ildefonso are the only two players to have won five BPCs.
“Siyempre, nakaka-proud kasi di ko naman ine-expect na mapapantayan ko siya. Nakakatuwa lang talaga,” said the 27-year-old big man about the feat he achieved.
The native of Pinamungajan, Cebu has averaged 19.4 points, a league-leading 15.2 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, and 1.5 assists, leading the San Miguel Beermen to an 10-1 slate in the elimination round and, later on, past the TNT Katropa in a grueling seven-game series.
He accumulated a total of 1217 points in the BPC race, with 485 coming from his stats, 471 from media votes, 111 from players votes, and 150 from the PBA offices.
However, what’s more important for the San Miguel lifer is for them to win their third straight Philippine Cup crown.
“Nagpapasalamat ako, pero maganda kung masaya kaming lahat kaya ang gusto ko talaga mag-champion kami,” he added.
Terrence Romeo of the Globalport Batang Pier came in second with 711 points. Teammates Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos accumulated 556 and 381 points respectively, while Calvin Abueva of the Alaska Aces rounded out the top five with 370 points.