6-way race for BPC heats up in voting week

Stanley Pringle has a strong case on why he deserves to be voted as the Best Player of the Conference for the PBA Philippine Cup. PBA Images (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—The real battle for the Best Player of the Conference has already gone underway as the voting period for the said PBA award has already begun.

Votes from the media covering the games, the PBA commissioner's office, and the players will be collected from Tuesday until the following Monday as the six finalists for the BPC plum looks to sway them to their favor.

The final nominees for the BPC award are TNT's Ray-Ray Parks and RR Pogoy, Ginebra's Stanley Pringle, Phoenix's Matt Wright and Calvin Abueva, and Terrafirma's CJ Perez.

Some, however, believe that the race has just boiled down to Parks, Pogoy, and Pringle as their teams made the finals last December.

Parks finished the bubble conference as number one in the statistical points race, but Pringle could get a strong case to earn votes after leading the Barangay to their first PBA Philippine Cup title since 2007.

Pogoy could also get some votes because of two explosive outings last season.

The BPC will be named in a special awards night on Jan. 17.

The PBA will be shying away from the traditional Leo Awards and will only award the BPC instead of the Most Valuable Player alongside other special awards.

Instead of the usual Rookie of the Year plum, an Outstanding Rookie award will be given to one of the following: Ginebra's Arvin Tolentino, Meralco's Aaron Black, Terrafirma's Roosevelt Adams, Alaska's Barkley Eboña, and Magnolia's Aris Dionisio.

Also, an Elite Five award will be given instead of the classic Mythical Selection.

The only Leos staples that will be handed out are the Most Improved Player, where Phoenix's Justin Chua and Jason Perkins, Rain Or Shine's Javee Mocon, NLEX's Raul Soyud, and Meralco's Reynel Hugnatan are the final nominees, and the Samboy Lim Sportsmanship Award, where Abueva, who showed that he is a different person now after serving a lengthy ban in 2019, is a finalist along with Ginebra's Scottie Thompson, NLEX's Kevin Alas, and Rain Or Shine's Gabe Norwood.

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