FILE – Ben Mbala. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
La Salle center Ben Mbala finds all the hullaballoo surrounding his second UAAP Most Valuable Player award amusing.
“It’s pretty funny, you know, cause since I’ve been here, I’ve seen a local guy win MVP even with ‘imports,’ like they call us,” said Mbala, who is the first foreign player to win the UAAP honor since FEU’s Anthony Williams back in 1981.
“(Kiefer) Ravena was a back-to-back MVP, Bobby (Ray Parks Jr.) had back-to-back, so if you’re good, you’ll get it.”
He formally received his award before Green Archers’ 92-83 victory over the Blue Eagles on Wednesday to force a winner-take-all Game 3 in the UAAP Season 80 Finals.
Mbala’s new MVP award sparked another discussion on whether there should be a separate top individual award for locals and foreign-born players. Kobe Paras publicly said that the current set up is “unfair” for the homegrown players.
But there was no doubt that Cameroonian standout was stellar in his second season with the Green Archers averaging 26.0 points, 13.08 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in the 12 games.
Though he missed La Salle’s first two assignments due to his obligations with the Cameroonian national team in the 2017 Afrobasket, that didn’t stop him from running away with the plum with 96.58 total statistical points (SPs), a full 30 SPs ahead of his closest pursuer — Ateneo’s Thirdy Ravena.
Mbala couldn’t help but think that the ones questioning him winning the hardware are just “looking for excuses.”
“Why in the NCAA, (CJ) Perez was able to get it even with a lot of imports?,” he said of the Lyceum forward who was dominant in his run this past NCAA Season 93.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Filipino or foreign student-athlete, if you work for the MVP, then you will win it. If not, don’t look for excuses like divided it in local and foreign,” Mbala said. “It’s pretty unfair. That’s not how it was supposed to be.”