MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings guard Stanley Pringle emerged as frontrunner for the Best Player of the Conference race in the recently-concluded 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup.
Pringle made a huge leap in the individual awards race after narrowly missing the Top Five in the statistical points through the semifinals round.
With Pringle showing the way, the Kings clinched the championship beating TNT Tropang Giga in five games for its 13th crown in franchise history.
Aside from Pringle, others in the roster for the possible Best Player award were Tropang Giga’s Bobby Ray Parks, Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters’ Calvin Abueva and Matthew Wright, TerraFirma Dyip’s CJ Perez and NorthPort Batang Pier’s Christian Standhardinger.
The PBA, as approved by the league board, is holding a special awards ceremony in January to recognize and salute top individual performers in the special all-Filipino tournament.
Aside from the Best Player title, other awards include Outstanding Rookie, Most Improved, Sportsmanship and the Special Team which will be the counterpart of the Mythical Five.
“It’s not a full season so it will be the BPC award,” said PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.
Meanwhile, those in contention for the Outstanding Rookie are Meralco Bolts’ Aaron Black, TerraFirma’s Roosevelt Adams and Kings’ Arvin Tolentino.
In the past two years, the PBA held the season awards back-to-back with the inaugurals of the next season. The league is veering away from this setup since Season 46 is not commencing until April./PN
