Pringle makes PBA MVP race interesting, overtakes Fajardo in statistical points

NorthPort guard Stanley Pringle barged into the MVP conversation in an almost sneaky way, putting risk to San Miguel center June Mar Fajardo’s historic streak.

While Fajardo missed the bulk of the PBA Governors’ Cup due to shin fracture, Pringle slowly crept in and took the pole position in the statistical points race accumulating 35.5 SPs overtaking the 6-foot-10 giant who has 33.2 SPs.

Fajardo, who won all four of his MVP trophies in consecutive years, was the stats leader throughout the season but Pringle took advantage of his absence to become a legitimate MVP contender.

Pringle, however, has to overcome Fajardo’s two Best Player of the Conferences trophies this season after the Beermen’s jovial juggernaut received the plums in the Philippine and Commissioner’s Cups.

Barangay Ginebra forward Japeth Aguilar is at third  in terms of stats with 32.9 SPs while Pringle’s teammate Sean Anthony is at fourth with 31.3 SPs.

Another Gin King in Scottie Thompson, who is also seen as a front runner for the Most Improved Player award, rounded out the top five with 30.8 SPs.

Phoenix forward Matthew Wright is at sixth with 30.6 SPs followed by three Beermen in Alex Cabagnot (30.2 SPs), Arwind Santos (30.0 SPs), and Marcio Lassiter (29.9 SPs), and Alaska forward Vic Manuel accumulated 29.0 SPs to complete the top 10.

Meanwhile, Phoenix forward Jason Perkins leads the Rookie of the Year race with 23.4 SPs, almost five more than what former La Salle teammate and Alaska forward Jeron Teng (18.3 SPs) has.

Top draft pick Christian Standhardinger of San Miguel and NLEX guard Kiefer Ravena are out of the ROY race after failing to complete the required minimum number of games a contender must play in a season.