THE torch has been formally passed. And an MVP trophy validated it.
Scottie Thompson is now hands down, the face of Barangay Ginebra after emerging as the Most Valuable Player of the PBA 46th season.
The 29-year-old pride of Davao locked in his first major individual award in the pro league by guiding the Kings to the championship of the season-ending Governors Cup opposite the Meralco Bolts.
Thompson beat TNT super rookie Mikey Williams, Robert Bolick of NorthPort, and Magnolia’s Calvin Abueva for the coveted plum.
In doing so, he broke the string of six straight MVPs of San Miguel big man June Mar Fajardo and elevated the profile of role player, which he has been for much of career with the Gin Kings.
Also, he became the first Barangay Ginebra player in a decade to become MVP after Mark Caguioa did it in 2012.
As if the basketball Gods personally anointed Thompson, Caguioa decided to retire from the games a few months after his successor inherited his throne.
From an unassuming, little-known player from the municipality of Padada in Davao Del Sur who worked his way up to become the biggest draw of the country’s most popular ballclub, Thompson is recognized by SPIN.ph as the Gamechanger of 2022 for its annual Sportsman of the Year (SOTY) awards.
Thompson’s rise to the top typifies the ‘Never-Say-Die’ spirit in him.
He once admitted no university or college offered him a scholarship after high school other than Perpetual Help.
And while he did become NCAA MVP in 2014 and built a reputation as a triple double machine in college, those weren’t enough for his stock to rise and be mentioned among the possible top three picks in the 2015 rookie draft.
But Ginebra coach Tim Cone saw something in him when he decided to select Thompson at No. 5 overall instead of then De La Salle University big man Norbert Torres.
“I think he’s an uncommon talent,” said the winningest coach in PBA history.
“We debated between him and Norbert. But we just felt Scottie was too good to pass up. We like to get a big man, but Scottie was just too special.”
Thompson didn’t become an integral part of Cone’s rotation from the beginning, but just like any role player, he had to work his way up the ladder.
Blessed with a leaping ability not common among guards, Thompson endeared himself to the Kings and their legion of fans with his rebounding skills, eventually becoming one of the team’s top rebounders as the years went by.
In time, he developed his shooting, too.
Not really known for his range, the 6-foot-1 Thompson improved his shooting by doing extra work in the gym before and after practices, that soon after, he’s been hitting game-winning 3s for Ginebra.
In time, the accolades began coming Thompson’s way with every championship won.
He was adjudged Finals MVP in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup, was named Most Improved Player, and became part of the 2nd Mythical Team that very same season.
Three years after, he bagged his first Best Player of the Conference award and won a second Finals MVP following the Kings’ triumphant campaign in the Governors’ Cup.
Not long after, the cherry on the cake came in the form of a first ever MVP trophy.
Truly, Thompson has arrived as a PBA superstar and now, the face of Barangay Ginebra.
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