Standhardinger wins PBA Best Player award, Durham top import anew

PBA Governor Cup best players Allen Durham and Christian Standhardinger. INQUIRER PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO

MANILA, Philippines—The 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup saw a new face emerge as the top local and a familiar name take home the Best Import plum.

NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger burst to the scene after getting traded from San Miguel and was named the Best Player of the Conference while Meralco’s Allen Durham won a personal hat trick after bagging his third Best Import award on Wednesday.

Standhardinger was just a substitute big man with the Beermen where he averaged just 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds but unleashed his full potential when he joined the Batang Pier.

He put up nightly numbers of 22.7 points and 12.8 rebounds while leading the Batang Pier to the eighth seed with a 5-6 card.

The Batang Pier, behind Standhardinger, stunned top seed NLEX in the quarterfinals but eventually lost to finalist Barangay Ginebra.

Durham, meanwhile, led the Bolts anew to the second seed (8-3) and another finals series against the Gin kings.

The 6-foot-5 Durham averaged 29.8 points, 15.4 rebounds, and 6.7 assists.