Barangay Ginebra guard Scottie Thompson during Game 1 of the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at Mall of Asia Arena. PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines–Barangay Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson moved into contention for the coveted Most Valuable Player of the PBA’s 47th season after climbing into second place following his team’s Commissioner’s Cup conquest.
Thompson leapfrogged San Miguel Beer’s CJ Perez for second place with 24.9 statistical points at the end of the midseason tournament that saw the Gin Kings beat the guest team Bay Area Dragons for the title.
San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo remains on top of the derby by a distant margin with 28.9 statistical points as the chase for the coveted plum is now being contested by the last two MVP winners.
Thompson bagged his first MVP last season while Fajardo won its six consecutive times between 2014 to 2019. The award was not handed out during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Perez dropped to third by a slight margin with 24.6 statistical points followed by NorthPort’s Robert Bolick (23.2) and Ginebra’s Jamie Malonzo (21.9).
Two more Ginebra players made their way to the top 10 as Commissioner’s Cup Finals MVP Christian Standhardinger sits in sixth at 21.1 and Japeth Aguilar placing eighth at 20.4.
Sandwiched between the Gin Kings frontline duo is TNT’s Mikey Williams with 20.6 statistical points while teammate RR Pogoy is at ninth place at 20.30.
Rounding out the list is NLEX’s Don Trollano with 20.28 statistical points.