Ginebra guard Maverick Ahanmisi.–PBA IMAGES
Maverick Ahanmisi once declared he didn’t want to play in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) All-Star game for as long as the event remains a popularity contest.
He might have a change of heart this year.
The explosive guard who fans snubbed in the exhibition classic in March this year is on pace to be among the 24 players who’ll be traveling to Bacolod City based on the initial results of the voting for this season’s event.
His rise in fan voting is largely due to his transfer from Converge to the uber-popular Barangay Ginebra, which has seven other players in the top 24, including leading vote getters Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson.
Aguilar leads the All-Star polling with 24,372 votes while Thompson has 17,398. The two players served as cocaptains in the 2023 extravaganza held in Passi City, Iloilo. Five of the next six names in the lead are from the Kings, including Christian Standhardinger, LA Tenorio and Jamie Malonzo at second, third and fourth respectively. Ahanmisi is at No. 7 and Stanley Pringle sits at eighth.
Nards Pinto is once more among the biggest surprises at 17th while the injured Jeremiah Gray and role player Von Pessumal are at No. 21 and No. 22 positions.
And then there’s veteran Jared Dillinger and benchwarmer Raymond Aguilar, who are outside of the top 24 but sit at No. 27 and No. 29, respectively, backing Ahanmisi’s claim that the All-Star Game is more of a popularity contest than a privilege that rewards the season’s best of the best.
“This is exactly why I don’t wanna join. It’s a popularity contest,” Ahanmisi said in February while he was still with Converge and was not picked by fans to don an All-Star shirt.“People who are more deserving aren’t even getting voted in because [they’re] being overshadowed by people with big names and I’m not supporting that,” he added.
Juami Tiongson, who was also snubbed last season, is not in the top 24 of this year’s early voting. In fact, he was even outvoted by Terrafirma teammate Eric Camson, who is at No. 12, which leaves more puzzling things to ponder.
But players like Tiongson still have a chance to join the classic game even if the fans will continue to snub him and other deserving players.
Four more spots
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said the league has added four more spots to make it 28 players for the All-Star festivities. The final four slots will be determined through voting of coaches and members of the media.
Fan balloting ends on Feb. 7.
Ginebra’s focus for now is Friday’s marquee matchup with streaking Meralco at Smart Araneta Coliseum, where the Kings are hoping to end a two-game skid at 8 p.m. following defeats at the hands of Phoenix and San Miguel Beer.
Meralco is on a roll at 6-1 (win-loss), with import Zach Lofton proving to remain a prolific replacement after Su Braimoh went down with an injury.
NLEX faces Blackwater at 4 p.m. in a battle of struggling teams.
The All-Star Game will not want prominent names as the big guns have also gained inside track at getting selected. June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Calvin Oftana, Chris Newsome, Paul Lee, Jayson Castro, Mark Barroca, Marcio Lassiter and Jio Jalalon are all inside the top 24 in voting.
Calvin Abueva and Terrence Romeo are also on the list despite dealing with injuries since the start of the conference.