CALVIN Abueva’s climb from a player who was almost banned from the PBA to being its top Philippine Cup performer is complete.
The Magnolia forward, dubbed “The Beast,” was named the Best Player of the Conference yesterday in simple ceremonies preceding Game 4 of the championship series between the Hotshots and the TNT Tropang Giga at the Don Honorio Ventura State Unversity Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Abueva garnered 934 points off statistics and votes from representatives of the players, PBA Commissioner’s Office, and the media to beat TNT rookie Mikey Williams and fellow Magnolia player and good buddy Ian Sangalang for the coveted award.
Williams, picked at No. 4 overall by the Tropa in last March’s rookie draft, received an 843 total and Sangalang 591.
Finishing fourth was NorthPort’s Robert Bolick (447) while former perennial winner June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer was fifth (403).
After bagging his second such award after the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup, while he was still with original team Alaska, Abueva becomes an automatic candidate for the season MVP award.
It’s quite an achievement for the 33-year-old, who was reinstated just about a year ago after a year-and-a-half of suspension.
Abueva was actually suspended indefinitely early in the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup for his clothesline hit on TNT import Terrence Jones, which came after he had a verbal altercation with then-Blackwater guard RayRay Parks’ girlfriend a game earlier.
While serving out his suspension, which also carried with it P70,000 in fines, Abueva repeatedly expressed remorse and contrition and had also followed all the conditions, including drug tests and psychological evaluation, set by both the PBA and the Games and Amusement for his reinstatement.
Long before Commissioner Willie Marcial lifted the suspension on Oct. 25 last year Abueva had been given permission to join his then-team Phoenix in practice, explaining why he displayed his usual high-energy game in his first game back.
Abueva was shipped off to Magnolia last February and, continuing to play without his former antics, is one of the main reasons why the Hotshots are in the best-of-seven finals, where they trail the Tropa 1-2 heading to last night’s game.
