News: Fajardo, Thompson, Standhardinger battle for PBA MVP

San Miguel Beermen big man June Mar Fajardo and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings Scottie Thompson and Christian Standhardinger are locked in a three-way battle for the highly-coveted Most Valuable Player of the Season award.

After winning the Best Player of the Conference Awards, the three players emerged as the top contenders for the PBA MVP award.

June Mar Fajardo claimed the Best Player of the Conference Award in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup, leading the San Miguel Beermen to the championship against the TNT Tropang Giga in seven games.

Scottie Thompson, the reigning PBA MVP, took home the Best Player of the Conference trophy in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner's Cup as the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel outlasted the guest team Bay Area Dragons in a best-of-seven final.

Christian Standhardinger is the latest of the three to take home the Best Player of the Conference Award in the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup, where the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel failed to defend its crown against eventual winners, the TNT Tropang Giga.

The winner of the Most Valuable Players will come from the votes of the PBA media and players and will be revealed during the opening of the upcoming Season 48, slated in October after the FIBA World Cup and the Asian Games.

Philippine Cup BPC: June Mar Fajardo

In the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup, San Miguel Beermen's center June Mar Fajardo won the highly-coveted Best Player of the Conference Award, besting the likes of teammate CJ Perez, reigning MVP Scottie Thompson of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, and TNT Tropang Giga's Mikey Williams.

June Mar Fajardo topped statistics (501) and media votes (537) while ending up in a tie with Mikey Williams for players' votes with 81 each, for 1119 points. CJ Perez settled for second place with 776 points after finishing second in statistics (474), media votes (257), and third in players' votes with 45.

Mikey Williams of TNT Tropang Giga came in third with 610 points, followed by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel stars Scottie Thompson with 468 and Japeth Aguilar with 415.

Although he is still playing, June Mar Fajardo has already made a name for himself in the PBA, known as The Kraken, for his extraordinary size and finesse against big men.

June Mar has won six Most Valuable Player Awards since playing in Asia's oldest pay-for-play league. In addition, he won the Most Valuable Player Award in six consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2019.

Winning the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference Award was bittersweet for June Mar Fajardo, who last won the award during the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup. After winning the award in 2019, June Mar went down with a fracture on his right tibia that kept him out for the 2020 PBA Season.

It was the seventh Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference award June Mar won, including six straight from 2014 to 2019. He also won the Best Player of the Conference award in the 2015 PBA Governors' Cup and the 2018 PBA Commissioner's Cup.

In the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup, June Mar led his team, the San Miguel Beermen, as they reclaimed the Philippine Cup trophy against the TNT Tropang Giga, 4-3. In his usual healthy self, June Mar led the team with an 8-2 win-loss record in the eliminations.

In the quarterfinals, the San Miguel Beermen made quick work of the Blackwater Bossing, 123-93. Then, in the best-of-seven semifinals, the San Miguel Beermen went on a game seven against the Meralco Bolts. However, with June Mar at the center, they managed to win the do-or-die game 7, 100-89, to move on to the finals.

In the finals, with the walls behind their backs, the San Miguel Beermen won back-to-back to snatch the championship to the TNT Tropang Giga, who was then coached by Philippine Men's National Team coach Chot Reyes.

In the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup, June Mar led in rebounds per game with 14.2 as he recorded the highest number of rebounds in a match with 27. He also led the players in having double-double performances in 20 games.

Commissioner's Cup BPC: Scottie Thompson

Reigning PBA MVP Scottie Thompson won the Best Player of the Conference Award in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner's Cup, besting the likes of teammate Jamie Malonzo, Robert Bolick of the NorthPort Batang Pier, CJ Perez of the San Miguel Beermen, and Don Trollano of the NLEX Road Warriors.

Scottie placed second in statistics (459) but topped media votes (409) and players' votes (49) for a total of 917 points. Jamie Malonzo was in a distant second with 673 points, placing fourth in statistics (442) and second in both media votes (205) and players' votes (26).

Robert Bolick settled for third with 558 total points, despite leading in statistics with 485 points, followed by CJ Perez and Don Trollano.

Since playing in the PBA in 2015, Scottie has been slowly making a name for himself as the point guard of the crowd-favorite, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. In the 2018 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals, Scottie won the Finals MVP award as the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel defeated the San Miguel Beermen in six games.

In the 2021 PBA Governors' Cup, Scottie won his first PBA Best Player of the Conference Award. In the same season, he also won his sixth PBA title and his second Finals MVP trophy as the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel defeated the Meralco Bolts in six games.

In the 2021 PBA Season, Scottie won the highly-coveted PBA Most Valuable Player award and was included in the Mythical First Team.

In the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner's Cup, where Scottie received his second Best Player of the Conference award, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel defeated the guest team Bay Area Dragons, in seven games.

In the same conference, Scottie averaged 12.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. He also held the most steals recorded in a game with 6.

Governors' Cup BPC: Christian Standhardinger

In the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup, Christian Standharding won the highly-coveted Best Player of the Conference Award, beating the likes of TNT Tropang Giga Roger Pogoy, San Miguel Beermen CJ Perez, and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel stars Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo.

Christian Standhardinger garnered 1110 points after topping the statistics with 534 points, media votes with 506, and players' votes with 70. Roger Pogoy was in a distant second with 672 points, followed by CJ Perez with 561 points.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel teammates Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo placed fourth and fifth with 497 and 456 points, respectively.

With the win, Christian Standhardinger joined Willie Miller, Eric Menk, and Calvin Abueva in the exclusive club of players who won multiple Best Players of the Conference Awards with different teams. Christian Standhardinger first received the award in the 2019 PBA Governors' Cup while still playing with the NorthPort Batang Pier.

In the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup, Christian Standhardinger was in unfamiliar territory as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel head coach Tim Cone's leading man after Japeth Aguilar went down with an MCL sprain earlier in the eliminations.

The winner of the PBA Most Valuable Player award will happen during the PBA Leo Awards at the opening of the upcoming 48th season of the PBA in October.