PBA: Titles, not individual awards, matter more to Marcio Lassiter

San Miguel Beermen’s Marcio Lassiter in Game 3 of the PBA Finals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Marcio Lassiter is the last member of San Miguel’s fabled “Death Five,” the core that racked up PBA titles one after the other that made the franchise the winningest in league history with 28, who hasn’t won a Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

Club cornerstone and reigning league MVP June Mar Fajardo has won the plum four times. Chris Ross and Arwind Santos have done so twice. Alex Cabagnot, meanwhile, has one under his belt.

But that doesn’t bother Lassiter. He is, after all, focused on raising the hardware that matters most: The Commissioner’s Cup.

READ: PBA Finals: San Miguel knows closing out Magnolia won’t ‘come easily’

“Just like I’ve said, I’m just trying to win,” he said. “If it comes, then it comes. I just continue to keep playing. I know I can contribute to the team and I just hope we can get more wins.”

Lassiter has been key for the Beermen in this series, figuring prominently in wins in the first two games of the best-of-seven finale against corporate sibling Magnolia.

The fourth overall pick of the 2011 PBA Rookie Draft also recently cracked the Top 5 of the league’s all-time record for most three-pointers made, unseating Ronnie Magsanoc with 1,173 triples.

READ: Lassiter warns of trouble if Beermen come out flat vs streaking Hotshots

But all that are but mere sidenotes to a deep campaign that could help him enter an even more prestigious list.

Lassiter, Ross and Fajardo are two wins away from capturing their 10th PBA title. Magnolia’s Rafi Reavis is the lone active player with twin-digit PBA titles, with 11 to his name.

“That’s an elite company and I’m very humbled to be in this position,” Lassiter said. “It’s so hard to be in this position, let alone get in the Finals.

“And when you’re here, you always just want to make sure to get it and take it. It’s never easy,” he went on.