BY THE NUMBERS | JUNE MAR FAJARDO'S NINTH MVP IS FOR REAL?

JUNE MAR FAJARDO

If you're aiming to win a PBA MVP award, there are a few key milestones you should hit. At the very least, you need to win a Best Player of the Conference award, take your team to the finals at least once, and post dominant all-around stats.

If there’s one good thing that came out of San Miguel’s underwhelming import situation this season, it’s that it gave June Mar Fajardo the perfect opening to chase his ninth MVP trophy. Fajardo bagged the Governors’ Cup BPC, and the other BPC winner has already taken his talents to the Korea Basketball League.

In contrast, Arvin Tolentino didn’t stand a chance of lifting NorthPort past their eventual Philippine Cup struggles.

Meanwhile, June Mar had to watch his Beermen crash out early in the 2025 PBA Commissioner's Cup elimination round, but he still averaged 20 points and 16 rebounds per game over 12 contests.

For the season, June Mar is unofficially averaging 18.96 points, 15.44 rebounds, 3.23 assists, and 1.02 blocks per game across 52 games.

Honestly, no one else is close.

The only way The Kraken loses the MVP race is if voters lean toward the players who appeared in both finals series. That would put names like Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, and Calvin Oftana in the mix.

But barring any surprise or injury, June Mar is likely headed for his ninth MVP win, which would surpass the combined total of Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio.

Even if you argue that he has never won a grand slam, he has been in striking distance at least three times in his career. I usually suck at making predictions, but here’s one I’ll stand by. One June Mar double-double, followed by two more to silence the critics, and he’s well on his way to MVP number nine.

If my bold claim sounds too wild, here’s some data to back it up. I ranked the top 27 players who played at least 35 games this season, using their total points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, along with their per-game averages in those categories. This way, we can see who stood out not only in volume but also in efficiency.

Arvin Tolentino gets a pass because, despite playing only 30 games this season, he is the only player aside from June Mar Fajardo to win a Best Player of the Conference award.

The top 15 players are highlighted, but other notable names in the mix include Justin Arana, Mark Barroca, Rey Nambatac, Schonny Winston, Cliff Hodge, Troy Rosario, Calvin Abueva, Jamie Malonzo, Bong Quinto, Ian Sangalang, Paul Lee, and Chris Banchero.

TOTALS | AS OF JULY 11, 2025

#	MVP CANDIDATES	GP	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK
1	JUNE MAR FAJARDO | SMB	52	986	803	168	34	53
2	ARVIN TOLENTINO | NOR	30	636	228	125	42	29
3	SCOTTIE THOMPSON | GIN	70	889	462	385	89	31
4	CJ PEREZ | SMB	52	946	257	239	73	26
5	CALVIN OFTANA | TNT	62	980	419	144	46	18
6	ROBERT BOLICK | NLE	40	823	216	303	40	7
7	ALEC STOCKTON | CON	42	659	191	185	48	19
8	JAPETH AGUILAR | GIN	68	1021	429	90	26	65
9	JOSHUA MUNZON | NOR	39	612	144	153	77	11
10	WILL NAVARRO | NOR/MAG	39	465	259	71	46	25
11	STEPHEN HOLT | GIN	69	800	358	208	68	1
12	ZAVIER LUCERO | MAG	39	581	268	66	22	45
13	CHRIS NEWSOME | MER	39	625	173	139	38	15
14	RJ ABARRIENTOS | GIN	70	894	196	256	58	8
15	RR POGOY | TNT	61	833	196	114	73	13

AVERAGES | AS OF JULY 11, 2025

#	MVP CANDIDATES	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
1	JUNE MAR FAJARDO | SMB	52	18.96	15.44	3.23	0.65	1.02
2	ARVIN TOLENTINO | NOR	30	21.20	7.60	4.17	1.40	0.97
3	SCOTTIE THOMPSON | GIN	70	12.70	6.60	5.50	1.27	0.44
4	CJ PEREZ | SMB	52	18.19	4.94	4.60	1.40	0.50
5	CALVIN OFTANA | TNT	62	15.81	6.76	2.32	0.74	0.29
6	ROBERT BOLICK | NLE	40	20.58	5.40	7.58	1.00	0.18
7	ALEC STOCKTON | CON	42	15.69	4.55	4.40	1.14	0.45
8	JAPETH AGUILAR | GIN	68	15.01	6.31	1.32	0.38	0.96
9	JOSHUA MUNZON | NOR	39	15.69	3.69	3.92	1.97	0.28
10	WILL NAVARRO | NOR/MAG	39	11.92	6.64	1.82	1.18	0.64
11	STEPHEN HOLT | GIN	69	11.59	5.19	3.01	0.99	0.01
12	ZAVIER LUCERO | MAG	39	14.90	6.87	1.69	0.56	1.15
13	CHRIS NEWSOME | MER	39	16.03	4.44	3.56	0.97	0.38
14	RJ ABARRIENTOS | GIN	70	12.77	2.80	3.66	0.83	0.11
15	RR POGOY | TNT	61	13.66	3.21	1.87	1.20	0.21

LEAGUE LEADERS | AS OF JULY 11, 2025

#	MVP CANDIDATES	TOP 1	TOP 2	TOP 3	TOP 4	TOP 5
1	JUNE MAR FAJARDO | SMB	TREB, RPG	TPTS, TBLK, BPG	PPG
2	ARVIN TOLENTINO | NOR	PPG		RPG, BPG	SPG	TBLK
3	SCOTTIE THOMPSON | GIN	TAST, TSTL	TREB	APG	TBLK	SPG
4	CJ PEREZ | SMB			SPG	TPTS, TSTL, PPG, APG	TAST
5	CALVIN OFTANA | TNT	TPTS			TREB	RPG
6	ROBERT BOLICK | NLE	APG	PPG, TAST
7	ALEC STOCKTON | CON					APG
8	JAPETH AGUILAR | GIN	TPTS, TBLK		TREB	BPG
9	JOSHUA MUNZON | NOR	SPG	TSTL
10	WILL NAVARRO | NOR/MAG
11	STEPHEN HOLT | GIN					TREB, TSTL
12	ZAVIER LUCERO | MAG	BPG			RPG	TBLK
13	CHRIS NEWSOME | MER					PPG
14	RJ ABARRIENTOS | GIN			TAST		TPTS
15	RR POGOY | TNT			TSTL

Among the names on the list, Scottie Thompson, Arvin Tolentino, Japeth Aguilar, and CJ Perez are the strongest candidates to challenge June Mar Fajardo's grip on the MVP race. However, most of Fajardo’s top stats are based on averages. Once he plays in the finals and adds to his totals, he will likely dominate the quantity stats as well.

In some ways, the same logic applies to Calvin Oftana, who spent the first two conferences playing behind Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. And unlike Tim Cone, who leaned heavily on his starters throughout the season, Chot Reyes was able to spread the minutes and numbers across his roster.

Still, I expect June Mar to come out on top and claim his ninth MVP award. It’s not because I’m a fan of his game. It’s simply because that’s how things are. He played like an import in all three conferences, which just shows how much of a generational talent he truly is.

Now that he's likely to break the individual MVP record, maybe it's time he leaves the grand slam achievement to TNT.

Just let them have it.

Get Sydrified.