Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — For the second straight year, June Mar Fajardo bagged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) on Friday (July 17) at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
The San Miguel Beer big man joined Bogs Adornado, Alvin Patrimonio, and Danny Ildefonso as the only players who have won back-to-back MVP plums.
“Sobrang blessed na mapabilang ako sa kanila,” said Fajardo.
Apart from that, the 6-10 behemoth from Cebu also nabbed the Sportsmanship award and was included in the All-Defensive team and the Mythical First Team.
But Fajardo is eyeing a prize bigger than the top individual plum.
“Mas maganda sana kung mag-champion,” said Fajardo, whose team is going for the jugular tonight in Game 4 of the PBA Governors’ Cup finals.
The Beermen hold a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven duel against the Alaska Aces.
Meanwhile, GlobalPort’s Stanley Pringle was named Rookie of the Year while his teammate, Terrence Romeo, received the Most Improved Player award.
Other players who were included in the Mythical First Team are: Jayson Castro, Paul Lee, Arwind Santos, and Greg Slaughter.
The members of the Mythical Second Team are Romeo, Pringle, Asi Taulava, Calvin Abueva, and Ranidel de Ocampo.
