FORMER PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios said the selection committee merely adopted the decision of previous selectors that all league Most Valuable Players be automatically seeded to the Greatest Players list.
Barrios said the selection committee of which he was made chairman essentially picked eight players for the 10 additions to the league’s 50 Greatest players since following the standard set by their predecessors on league MVPs.
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Barrios said members of the selection committee agreed that the automatic inclusion that was accorded previous MVPs should be applied to active MVPs June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel and Scottie Thompson of Barangay Ginebra.
“Inadapt ng original selection committee for the first 25 na ‘matic ang MVP,” said Barrios during the made-for-TV event that named the next 10 greatest players in PBA history on Wednesday. “Kasi kung ‘yung playing skills sa PBA, sigurado ‘yung MVP ninyo ay dapat lamang (na nasa greatest). ‘Yun ang nangyari.”
“Immediately, sa 10 namin na iseselect, dalawa kaagad doon, nag-MVP eh. Walo na lang talaga ang pagpipilian ng committee,” said Barrios.
After the PBA named its 40 greatest players in 2015, Fajardo took home eight MVPs from 2014 to 2019, 2023 and 2024, with Thompson getting his in 2021.
Barrios said the selection committee early on established that a player should be judged solely for their careers in the PBA.
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“Agad-agad, tatlong meetings kami, ‘yung first meeting, ang question is, 'Ano ba ‘yung task given to us? which is to select 10 more to complete the 50 greatest in PBA. Niliwanag muna namin among ourselves and it was aptly articulated by the most seasoned, if I may used that term, si Coach Dante (Silverio). ‘Yung pinipili natin, ‘yung nagpakita ng exceptional skills sa PBA playing career nila, among others, ‘yung may impact sa PBA. In other words, hindi ‘yung dahil magaling ‘yung nilaro sa college, dapat sa PBA,” said Barrios.
Aside from Barrios and Silverio, also part of the selection committee where four-time MVP Ramon Fernandez, former players Atoy Co and Allan Caidic, and media personalities Ding Marcelo, Quinito Henson, Andy Jao, Al Mendoza, and Nelson Beltran.
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