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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Abarrientos shrugs off BPC talks, says focus on winning the chip

Abarrientos shrugs off BPC talks, says focus on winning the chip

Published Jun 3, 2026 01:09 pm

At A Glance

  • Barangay Ginebra star RJ Abarrientos shrugged off Best Player of the Conference talks, stressing that the focus for him right now is to help Ginebra end its Finals jinx against TNT and win his very first PBA title.

Barangay Ginebra star RJ Abarrientos shrugged off Best Player of the Conference talks, stressing that the focus for him right now is to help Ginebra end its Finals jinx against TNT and win his very first PBA title.

Abarrientos was among the leaders in the BPC race alongside Robert Bolick and June Mar Fajardo but the two other stars failed to go past the quarterfinals, putting the shifty guard as the frontrunner for the individual honors.

“First time ko lang maging favorite. Una kasi favorite ko, asawa ko yun. Tapos ako na pala ngayon,” Abarrientos said in jest.

“But kidding aside, siyempre, individual award dyan. Wala akong ineexpect dyan. So, kung ano man iyon. Bonus lang yun,” he added.

Living up to his bid for the BPC plum, Abarrientos did look like the best player in the league when he fired back-to-back 30-point performances in Games 5 and 6 in the semifinals against Rain or Shine to tow Ginebra back in the Finals.

But more than anything else, the biggest motivation for the 5-foot-10 guard is to finally win a championship after falling short in his first two tries during his rookie year.

And facing the same team that gave him his first Finals heartbreak, Abarrientos knew for sure that it would be a hard series against the Tropang 5G especially how they exploited him on the defensive end in their previous duels.

“I think they will do the same thing hanggang ngayon. Pero siyempre, now, especially me, mas kailangan ko maging ready. Individually, kung ano yung bibigay sa akin, kung ano yung mapapakita nilang bagong sa akin,” said Abarrientos.

“Siyempre, as a team, gusto namin makuha ‘yung chip. Siyempre, unang-una ako, dahil gusto ko makakuha rin ng isang champion with this team sa Ginebra. Pero, sabi ko kanina, hindi madali, hindi bibigay sa'yo,” he added.

Related Tags

RJ Abarrientos Ginebra Gin Kings PBA Finals PBA PBA Commissioner\'s Cup
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