Those eligible have now began the process of selecting who among the strong contenders are worthy of winning the PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference.
Voting period for the “Bubble MVP” and other awards began Tuesday and will last until Jan. 11, giving players, media and the Commissioner’s Office enough time to decide on their choices.
Perhaps the most difficult selection is the Best Player honors, with TNT’s Ray Parks Jr. and RR Pogoy, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Stanley Pringle and Phoenix Super LPG’s Calvin Abueva and Matthew Wright identified as the strongest candidates to be named in the virtual PBA Awards Night slated Jan. 17.
Parks topped the Statistical Points category at the end of the two-month Philippine Cup bubble at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center while Pringle helped Ginebra become the new ruler of the league’s most important prize.
Read: Tim Cone: Hard work paying off for ‘best player’ Stanley Pringle
Pogoy is also in consideration after capping off his splendid campaign with an impressive shooting display despite the Tropang Giga’s 4-1 loss to the Kings in the Finals.
Abueva and Wright, meanwhile, were instrumental in bringing Phoenix Super LPG to the semifinals and were also close sending the franchise to its first-ever Finals appearance.
Read: PBA chief heaps praise on Calvin Abueva
Terrafirma’s CJ Perez was also nominated for the BPC, but his chances are slim given his team’s lowly performance in the recent conference.
The PBA decided to hand out the BPC instead of the traditional Season Most Valuable Player after the 45th edition of the pro league was cut short to a single conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read: No MVP, only Best Player of the Conference for shortened bubble season
The six are also in the running for the tournament’s Mythical Five selection which is among the awards that will be given during the festivities.
Also to be presented is the Outstanding Rookie instead of the Rookie of the Year award, with Meralco’s Aaron Black, Ginebra’s Arvin Tolentino, Terrafirma’s Roosevelt Adams, Alaska’s Barkley Ebona and Magnolia’s Aris Dionisio.