June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez lead PBA Best Player race

MANILA, Philippines—The race for the PBA’s Best Player is wide open with no player  from the finalists of the Governors’ Cup, Barangay Ginebra and Meralco, making it to the Top 5.

San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo, Columbian’s CJ Perez, NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger, NLEX’ Kiefer Ravena, and TNT’s Jayson Castro are all vying for the top individual trophy of the season-ending conference.

Fajardo, the reigning five-time MVP and the Philippine Cup’s BPC, is at pole position in the third conference with 38.8 statistical after averaging 19.3 points, a league-leading 14 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 blocks.

Perez, the top overall pick in the 2018 PBA Draft, led all locals in terms of scoring with 23.2 points to go along, 8.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and a league-leading 2.5 steals for an average of 37.2 SPs.

Standhardinger, who started the conference as Fajardo’s teammate with San Miguel, emerged as one of the best big men in the league taking the third spot in the race with 35.1 SPs while putting up numbers of 17.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.2 steals.

Ravena, who led the Road Warriors to a top seed finish in the conference at 8-3, is at fourth place with 34.5 SPs while also averaging 16 points, 5.5 rebounds, a league-best 7.8 assists, and 1.6 steals.

Castro, the BPC of the Commissioner’s Cup, is at fifth with 31.6 SPs while averaging 14.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.7 steals.

A win for Fajardo could give him a ninth BPC plum and could potentially give him his sixth MVP award.