June Mar Fajardo. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
He may sound like a broken record, but June Mar Fajardo is sincere whenever he says that never in his wildest dreams did he think he’d get to where he is right now.
“Di ko naman pinangarap ito. Hindi ko naman hilig ang basketball dati (This is surreal. I never dreamt of this. I wasn’t even fond of basketball before).” said Fajardo, talking about his late start in the sport he now dominates.
It may have been divine intervention or just plain destiny, but the scrawny kid from Pinamungajan, Cebu was given the height every aspiring baller could only dream of at 6-foot-10.
But his height wouldn’t have mattered if not for Fajardo’s impeccable work ethic and down-to-earth, coachable personality.
That admirable trait has paved way for downpour of blessing since Fajardo turned pro six years ago, as he has won four consecutive PBA MVP plums, five championships over the last four years, and now, a record-sixth Best Player of the Conference citation for the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup.
“Sinong mage-expect nun, di ba? Ano lang ba ako dati? Wala talaga akong hilig sa basketball tapos ngayon, mabe-break ko na yung record ng mga magagaling sa PBA. Nakaka-proud sa sarili,” he said.
(Who would have expected that, right? Who was I before? I didn’t like basketball and now, I will be breaking the record of the PBA greats. It really makes me proud of myself.)
The Cebuano giant averaged a league-best 22.8 points on 63-percent shooting, together with 13.3 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks, both second-best in the league, for his fifth BPC award in an all-Filipino conference.
Not only did Fajardo match the feat of his former mentor Ramon Fernandez for most MVP plums at four, but he was able to surpass the accomplishments of his other mentor Danny Ildefonso, who previously held the record for most BPC awards at five.
But even at his most glorious days, Fajardo is more than willing to share the accolades to those who paved the way for his success.
“Hindi naman mangyayari ito kung hindi rin dahil sa teammates ko at sa coaching staff. Tulungan kami sa lahat at kaya namin nakakamit yung mga ganitong award dahil na rin sama-sama kami,” he said. “Para sa akin, hindi lang ako yung BPC. Kaming lahat yun.”
(This won’t happen if not for my teammates and the coaching staff. We help each other and that’s the reason why we’re able to achieve these awards because we all stick together. For me, I’m not the BPC. All of us are.)
Despite all the accolades, Fajardo remains hungry, especially for another title.
“Yun naman ang gusto ko, championship. Mas gusto ko yun over individual awards kasi pag mag-champion kami, buong team ang masaya,” he said.
(That’s what I want, another championship. I want that over the individual awards because when we become champion, everyone on the team is happy.)