The PBA top 40

It sounds like a familiar weekly pop music countdown, and it is similarly a lineup of the greatest hits, albeit among the Philippine Basketball Association’s admirable list of players throughout history. In line with its upcoming celebrations of its 40th season, the league will be releasing its official list of 40 greatest players to be honored during the next season, which opens in October. There is a lot of consensus about the names being bandied about but, as always, there will be some disagreement as to who deserves to be included, especially when it comes down to the last few slots.

Fifteen years ago, the PBA named its 25 greatest players of all time. The criteria for selection included how each nominee had a positive impact on basketball in the country, how each helped add to the popularity of the league, the special individual awards the player received, and had a basic premise that each player nominated was at least a four-year veteran. Of course, there was no way to gauge which of those qualifications weighed more than others.

The original honorees were Johnny Abarrientos, Bogs Adornado, Ato Agustin, Francis Arnaiz, Ricky Brown, Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, Philip Cezar, Atoy Co, Jerry Codiñera, Kenneth Duremdes, Bernie Fabiosa, Mon Fernandez, Danny Florencio, Abet Guidaben, Freddie Hubalde, Bobby Jaworski, Jojo Lastimosa, Lim Eng Beng, Samboy Lim, Ronnie Magsanoc, Vergel Meneses, Manny Paner, Alvin Patrimonio and Benjie Paras. The list is such a lofty one for any player to aspire for, but off the bat, there are many worthy candidates.

What will happen is the PBA will seek out 15 candidates from the rich roster of outstanding players from the last 15 years to add to that list, definitely avoiding the awkward situation of having to rewrite history. Some pundits are theorizing that individual awards such as MVPs will carry more weight this time around. Others are even suggesting that an all-new list of 40 will be generated.

Consider this: if a new list were to be created based largely on individual awards, some players 25 Greatest Players would be in jeopardy of not making the list. Among those originally selected, Francis Arnaiz, Hector Calma, Jerry Codiñera, Bernie Fabiosa, Danny Florencio, Jojo Lastimosa, Lim Eng Beng, Samboy Lim, Ronnie Magsanoc and Manny Paner did not win an MVP award throughiut their careers. That’s almost half of the original list. For most of those players mentioned, the problem was being surrounded with so much talent. On those legendary Crispa teams, for instance, Fabiosa played alongside MVPs Co, Adornado, Hubalde, Cezar and Guidaben, though I’m sure all of them would say Bernie had a big hand in their ascension to greatness. 

For others, the problem would be injury. Samboy Lim, the inimitable Skywalker of the PBA, was often injured, completing only one full season in his spectacular career, earning a Mythical Second Team nod along the way. For others until now, the challenge has been playing second fiddle to imports for most of the season, particularly certain big men. One obvious candidate for the PBA top 40, Danny Ildefonso, overcame this by bulking up to play center for the All-Filipino Comference, then trimming down to slide to forward when bigger imports were around.

One thing we should consider is that the players’ college careers should not be a factor, because some of them were not great in college, and that was the amateurs. As for the contribution to the growth of the sport, many players will be book-ended by the pioneers who shaped the pro game we know today, and those who helped lift the Philippines back onto the international basketball stage. Another consideration would be players who have not yet hit their peak and may or may not do so in the coming years.

One thing that has to be stressed is that this may also be an opportunity to correct certain “sins of omission” from the original top 25. Just as players like Fabiosa made others around him better, it is doubtful that Alaska would have won its Grand Slam without Bong Hawkins as part of its powerful triumvirate which included MVP Abarrientos and Lastimosa. The three split much of the vote for MVP in 1996, and the Flying A emerged the smallest player in league history to ever win the trophy.

Of course, being MVP also counts, so it’s practically a no-brainer that James Yap, Mark Caguioa, Asi Taulava, Jimmy Alapag, Ildefonso, Willie Miller, Kelly Williams, Arwind Santos, Jayjay Helterbrand and Eric Menk will be written into the updated honor roll. That would leave only five spots left for the remaining non-MVP candidates. In no particular order, you’ve got Hawkins, Danny Seigle, Olsen Racela, Dennis Espino, Jeff Cariaso, Nelson Asaytono. That’s already six candidates, one more than the slots remaining. And we haven’t even got back to thoroughly sift through the early days of the league or revisited candidates until 2000.

I don’t envy the selection committee. The intangibles will be a big factor, but will also lead to some healthy disagreement. This only ensures that the job will be exciting. Wouldn’t you love to listen in to those arguments?