RIVALS #8 | JUNE MAR'S 9 VS ASI'S MVP SEASON

June Mar Fajardo is on the verge of winning his tenth MVP award in almost as many seasons in the PBA. The only times he didn’t win the award were in 2013, during his rookie year, when his teammate Arwind Santos won; in 2020, when COVID-19 was at its peak; and in 2021, when Scottie Thompson took home the honor while JMF was recovering from a devastating injury.

Undoubtedly, JMF is a generational talent, especially since it’s hard to counter a double-double machine in an era when the only players who can truly match up with him are big imports, Greg Slaughter, and Christian Standhardinger—most of whom never even played more than 200 games in the league.

If JMF had played in a time when the league featured the likes of a prime Asi Taulava, he might have faced stiffer competition.

I guess this is why players like Danny Ildefonso, Calvin Abueva, and Marc Pingris have said they would pick The Rock over The Kraken for their PBA Mount Rushmore. It’s partly a reverse version of recency bias (because they played and trained with him) and partly about appreciating their proverbial basketball origin story—when they were viewing the game purely for the love of it, before financial stability became part of the conversation.

Taulava finished his career with one MVP, one BPC, one championship, and one Finals MVP. Obviously, in terms of awards and overall career achievements, it’s June Mar over Asi. However, let’s single out Taulava’s 2003 MVP season and compare it to Fajardo’s nine MVP campaigns.

Game starts now.

JUNE MAR FAJARDO'S 9 MVP WINS

YEAR	TEAM	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2013-14	PETRON	37	16.76	14.16	1.35	0.46	2.08
2014-15	SAN MIGUEL	54	17.41	12.91	1.28	0.39	1.74
2015-16	SAN MIGUEL	52	19.73	12.21	1.31	0.46	1.38
2016-17	SAN MIGUEL	55	17.36	11.49	1.55	0.42	2.05
2017-18	SAN MIGUEL	46	20.28	12.33	1.61	0.59	1.28
2019	SAN MIGUEL	61	18.87	12.95	1.90	0.57	1.54
2022-23	SAN MIGUEL	46	17.70	13.48	2.87	0.65	1.30
2023-24	SAN MIGUEL	38	17.82	13.39	2.76	0.71	1.74
2024-25	SAN MIGUEL	58	19.21	15.09	3.12	0.74	1.03

ASI TAULAVA'S 2003 MVP SEASON

YEAR	TEAM	GP	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2003	TALK N TEXT	54	23.41	13.67	3.56	0.43	1.31
	RANK		1	3	1	8	7

So, you might be wondering about the ranking beneath Asi’s 2003 stats. Basically, if you combine Asi’s numbers with June Mar’s averages across his MVP seasons, that’s where Asi’s averages would rank in comparison.

Hmmm.

And here are the rankings of June Mar’s MVP seasons.

YEAR	TEAM	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2013-14	PETRON	10	2	8	6.5	1
2014-15	SAN MIGUEL	8	7	10	10	3.5
2015-16	SAN MIGUEL	3	9	9	6.5	6
2016-17	SAN MIGUEL	9	10	7	9	2
2017-18	SAN MIGUEL	2	8	6	4	9
2019	SAN MIGUEL	5	6	5	5	5
2022-23	SAN MIGUEL	7	4	3	3	8
2023-24	SAN MIGUEL	6	5	4	2	3.5
2024-25	SAN MIGUEL	4	1	2	1	10

Okay. Looking at the numbers, Asi’s 2003 MVP season really was that good. The only June Mar seasons that can truly match—or surpass—Asi’s numbers are his eighth and ninth MVP campaigns.

While Asi and JMF may have identical career rebounding averages, in terms of scoring and even playmaking, it’s clearly Asi over June Mar. As for steals and blocks, I can’t say Asi was a bad defender. His sheer bulk alone was an automatic points deterrent. The only player who could really go mano a mano with Taulava in his prime was Eric Menk. Sure, there were tough interior guys like Rudy Hatfield and Dorian Peña who could battle in the shaded area, but it wasn’t quite the same kind of rivalry that “The Rock” and “Major Pain” had.

That said, Taulava won his MVP at age 30. June Mar’s eighth and ninth MVPs came when he was already in his mid-30s. When Asi was rising, Mobiline/Talk ’N Text looked like a powerhouse, only on paper, and his citizenship issues didn’t exactly help his stability. After that, he moved from Coca-Cola to Meralco, then to the ABL, before returning to the PBA via Air21 (now NLEX). At no point did he really have a consistently title-driven squad or a long-term coach who could fully maximize his prime years.

Meanwhile, June Mar Fajardo has been with—and well taken care of by—the San Miguel Beermen since day one. Arwind Santos, the MVP during JMF’s rookie season, seamlessly transitioned into a chief supporting role. Leo Austria has been his steady guiding force, and despite JMF’s dominance, we’ve never seriously heard trade rumors surrounding him.

I mean, why would you even trade The Kraken?

And really, why would you even trade Asi in the first place?

With Asi, it was largely Jimmy Alapag—and at times Vic Pablo, Harvey Carey, and Patrick Fran—serving as his key running mates. In June Mar’s case, he had the original “Death Five” of Santos, Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter, and Chris Ross.

And now? June Mar is surrounded by a cast of high-level supporting pieces.

If you really think about it, had Taulava played under a system and coach like Austria, his career might have reached even greater heights.

And even during stretches when June Mar was injured, Leo Austria still ran JMF-centric sets. If you remember, there was a point when Yancy de Ocampo was putting up pseudo–June Mar numbers. From averaging just a little over 10 minutes a game, Yancy suddenly looked like he had turned back the clock.

https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Yancy-de-Ocampo/GameLogs/40293/International/2016

Austria has always centered his offense around June Mar, and his ability to manage egos within the roster is something Asi rarely enjoyed with his previous coaches.

When you think about it, maybe YDO’s career trajectory would have been even better if he had been paired with Coach Leo from the very beginning.

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So there it is. Asi may have had a phenomenal 2003 season—an MVP year that still holds weight—but June Mar has at least two MVP campaigns that can rival, if not surpass, that peak.

That said, you really can’t blame former players for choosing Asi over June Mar. Perspective plays a huge role. If we revisit this debate ten years from now, I’m willing to bet the next generation of players will have a completely different take.

It’s the same way people talk about prime Robert Jaworski and Ramon Fernandez in the Pioneer Era, or Alvin Patrimonio and Benjie Paras in the ’90s. Every era has its giants.

Regardless of where you stand in this debate, you can’t deny the massive impact both Asi Taulava and June Mar Fajardo have had on Philippine basketball.