MANILA, Philippines — Nine-time league Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo is undoubtedly the most dominant local in the PBA today.
But with PBA teams maximizing the no height restrictions for imports in the coming Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup, fans wonder if the 6-foot-10 Cebuano can still impose his will in the game.
The 36-year-old Fajardo stressed that basketball is a team sport, while noting that the Beermen, just like other PBA squads, will also be bringing their own big import in their bid to compete for the championship in the coming mid-season conference.
“We will also be getting a big import, and basketball is a team game,” Fajardo said in Filipino, who last Monday attended the annual Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards Night as he received his seventh Mr. Basketball citation at the Diamond Hotel in Manila.
Fajardo averaged import-like numbers of 17 points, 17.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 blocks in leading San Miguel Beer to a successful title-retention of the Philippine Cup last month.
The pride of Pinamungahan, Cebu underscored his dominance after being named the Finals MVP for a record fifth time, while rewriting the record books as well for winning his 13th Best Player of the Conference award.
Heading to the Commissioner’s Cup, the Beermen have yet to name their import, though the league’s all-time winningest franchise is shopping around for a foreign reinforcement that could help them stop the TNT Tropang 5G from extending their reign.
SMB won the Commissioner's Cup in the 2023-24 season behind sharp-shooting import Bennie Boatwright.
San Miguel fell short of defending its crown as TNT ruled the Commissioner’s Cup last season, adding to the Governors’ Cup crown behind do-it-all import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
The left-handed Hollis-Jefferson, who also won two Best Import awards last season, won’t be returning this conference though after injuring his Achilles last December while being loaned to the Meralco Bolts in the East Asia Super League home-and-away game against the Macau Black Bears in Isabela.
Taking the spot of the former Brooklyn Nets forward is NBA veteran Bol Bol, a 7-foot-3 giant.
The 26-year-old Bol, who played six seasons in the NBA, starting with the Denver Nuggets, before moving to the Orlando Magic and later, with the Phoenix Suns, is expected to bring in a defensive presence, rebounding and inside scoring for TNT.
Bol will be the second tallest import after Sam Deguara, the 7-6 Maltese slotman who will be reinforcing the foreign guest squad Macau Black Bears.
Other PBA teams recruiting big imports include Mubashar Ali of Terrafirma (7-0) and Blackwater’s Daniel Ochefu (6-11).