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Best Import of the Conference Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (left) and Best Player of the Conference Arvin Tolentino (right)
(PBA Images)
MANILA, Philippines -- For the first time ever, Arvin Tolentino has taken home the PBA Best Player of the Conference award.
The sweet-shooting forward, who was a key cog for the NorthPort Batang Pier’s historic run in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup, was awarded the top player of the import-laden conference.
Tolentino led NorthPort to its first top-seeded finish at the end of the eliminations and took Batang Pier to the semifinals, where they lost against Barangay Ginebra in five games.
At the end of the semifinals, he averaged 20.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.
Tolentino garnered an average of 36.3 statistical points throughout the conference.
According to the tally, he garnered 564 votes from the media and 54 from the players, including 454 points from the stats for a total of 1,072 points.
Tolentino is the first NorthPort player to win the plum since Christian Standhardinger won it in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup.
“Masaya. First so parang hindi ko actually alam ang sasabihin ko. Pero hindi ko in-expect na makukuha ko ito. The whole time, I was just trying to be better, trying to improve myself every day,” he said.
“Ito yung naging reward. So, sobrang happy ako dahil yun na, every day, pinu-push ko yung sarili ko, not intentionally para makuha ang kunganong award, it’s just to really get better every day, to help my team win and hopefully win a championship again,” he added.
“It’s a bonus so I’m very happy na iilang players lang ang nakaka-achieve ng ganito and name ko andiyan na. So sobrang saya.”
Tolentino edged out San Miguel’s June Mar Fajardo (600 points,) NLEX’s Robert Bolick (540 points,) Converge’s Jordan Heading (419 points) and TNT’s Calvin Oftana, who is the only player among the official candidates that is still playing.
At the end of the semifinals, the sharpshooting Oftana tallied 31.9 average SPs with numbers of 18.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
Oftana finished second in the race with 399 statistical points, 280 votes from the media and 98 player votes for a total of 777 points.
Meanwhile, Oftana's teammate, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, bagged the Best Import of the Conference award.
At the end of the semifinals, Hollis-Jefferson averaged 28.2 points, 12.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.9 steals and a league-leading 1.8 blocks per game for 52.7 average SPs.
He won the award over NorthPort’s Kadeem Jack (825 points,) Rain or Shine’s Deon Thompson (633 points) and Barangay Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee (670 points.)
The do-it-all winger had 615 statistical points and received 532 votes from the media and 133 from the players for 1,280 points.
This is Hollis-Jefferson’s third Best Import award.
