June Mar Fajardo is on pace to bag his eighth PBA MVP award.
The San Miguel star could further extend his record as he finished Season 48 on top of the MVP race after leading the proud franchise to back-to-back Finals appearances, including a championship run in the Commissioner’s Cup.
Now a 10-time BPC winner after emerging as the Philippine Cup’s best, he sat at no. 1 in the statistical points race with 42.1 SPs behind per-game averages of 17.8 points, a league-best 13.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 blocks.
Out to give Fajardo a run for his money are Barangay Ginebra bruiser Christian Standhardinger and his fellow Beerman in CJ Perez, who copped the first-ever BPC award of his career during the Commissioner’s Cup.
Standhardinger sat at no. 2 with 37.8 SPs behind numbers of 19.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists.
Meanwhile, Perez is ranked third with 37.4 SPs after averaging 18.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.9 steals.
Completing the Top Five in the MVP race are NorthPort main man Arvin Tolentino and TNT’s Calvin Oftana with 35.9 and 35.4 SPs, respectively.
Meanwhile, Terrafirma’s Stephen Holt leads the Rookie of the Year derby after leading his side to a run to remember this season.
The top overall pick of the 2023 Rookie Draft leads the RotY race with 34.1 SPs. The Fil-Am guard spearheads all freshmen in scoring (17.0 points), assists (5.5), and steals (1.9) while running at sixth in the MVP standings.
Holt helped the Dyip reach the playoffs for the first time in eight years last season as the team made it to the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup, where they pushed the twice-to-beat SMB to a sudden death.
At second behind Holt is Batang Pier big man Cade Flores with 23.3 SPs to his name while leading all rookies in rebounding with 9.3 boards.
Adrian Nocum of Rain or Shine (21.8 SPs), Ken Tuffin of Phoenix (21.5 SPs), and Blackwater’s Christian David (17.8 SPs) round out the Top Five.
