The San Miguel Beermen's June Mar Fajardo capped his return to competitive form by winning his record ninth Best Player of the Conference award on Sunday just before Game 4 of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals between the Beermen and the Tropang Giga.
Fajardo amassed 1,119 points to beat teammate CJ Perez, who collected 776 points. Finishing third was TNT's Mikey Williams with 610. Barangay Gineba San Miguel teammates Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with 468 and 415 points. It's Fajardo's first BPC since the 2019 Philippine Cup.
Points are collected from statistics, media votes and player votes. Fajardo topped the statistics and media votes and tied for Williams in player votes with 81 each.
As of Game 3 of the finals, Fajardo is averaging 19.0 points and 13.8 rebounds while shooting 62.8% from the field, his highest marks following a shin injury that forced him to sit out the 2020 Philippine Cup. In his last conference prior to the injury, the six-time MVP averaged 19.3 points and 14.0 boards in the 2019 Governors' Cup. His numbers dipped to 13.5 points and 10.6 rebounds in the 2021 Philippine Cup and 14.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in the 2021-22 Governors' Cup, with the Beermen failing to make the finals in both tournaments.
But with the Beermen falling to the Tropang Giga in Game 4, the award became bittersweet for Fajardo.
"This (award) isn't my goal," he said in Tagalog after the game. "The goal is to win a championship. We lost tonight. We have to regroup."
It's no coincidence that Fajardo's return to his pre-injury numbers also marked the Beermen's first finals appearance in three years. San Miguel is aiming for its sixth Philippine Cup title in eight seasons, and a championship would set up Fajardo to be the frontrunner to win his record seventh MVP.
Fajardo said his mindset while recovering from his injury was to not let it overwhelm him.
"I told myself I wouldn't be beaten by my injury," he said. "I'm thankful I was able to overcome it."
TNT's Jayson Castro said Fajardo was clearly the best player in the league, and said he was pleased to see his rival regain his old form.
"It's obvious that June Mar is the BPC," said Castro, who congratulated Fajardo outside the team locker rooms after the game. "At the same time, I'm really happy for him because he came back from his injury and has regained his form. I'm very happy to see him play like this again."