San Miguel star June Mar Fajardo on pace for 8th PBA MVP Award

San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo is headed to another PBA MVP win. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

June Mar Fajardo has put himself in a position to win the PBA Most Valuable Player for an astonishing eighth time after topping the statistical points category at the end of the league’s 48th season.

The official tally released by the league Tuesday showed the San Miguel Beer star posting 42.1 Statistical Points after the two-conference season which saw the Beermen win the Commissioner’s Cup and settle for runner-up honors in the Philippine Cup.

Barangay Ginebra’s Christian Standhardinger is a distant second with 37.8 Statistical Points with Fajardo’s teammate CJ Perez sitting in third with 37.4. NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino (35.9) and TNT’s Calvin Oftana (35.4) completed the top five.

READ: PBA: June Mar Fajardo wins 10th Best Player of Conference Award

In sixth is Terrafirma rookie Stephen Holt (34.1), followed by Meralco’s Chris Newsome (31.7), Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson (30.3), Terrafirma’s Juami Tiongson (29.2) and Phoenix’s Jason Perkins (28.8).

Forty-five percent of the statistics will be used criteria to determine the MVP winner which will be known during the Leo Awards slated on the day the PBA opens its 49th season next month. The rest will come from votes from the media (30%) and players (25%).

Fajardo averaged 17.8 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 38 games during the 2023-24 campaign.

READ: June Mar Fajardo: It’s Meralco’s time to win PBA title

Apart from his edge in statistics, Fajardo also won the Best Player of the Conference award in the Philippine Cup but San Miguel lost to Meralco in the championship series.

Some say that Perez stands as Fajardo’s closest competitor after being the Best Player of the Conferences and Finals MVP of the Commissioner’s Cup when the Beermen defeated the Magnolia Hotshots for the title.