New era dawns on June Mar Fajardo as he is set to play with two equally towering slotmen — Kai Sotto and AJ Edu — when Gilas Pilipinas sees action in the FIBA Basketball World Cup from 25 August to 10 September.
Fajardo, who played in the previous editions of the FIBA World Cup in 2014 and 2019, claimed that he is excited to team up with the 7-foot-2 Sotto and 6-foot-10 Edu in the biggest, most prestigious basketball showpiece in the world.
He said he looks forward to working with Sotto and Edu — two players whom he considers have legitimate chances of playing in the National Basketball Association.
His third tour of duty on the world stage would definitely look like a passing of the torch for the 33-year-old Fajardo as both Sotto and Edu have what it takes to patrol the paint for Gilas Pilipinas at least for the next 10 years.
After all, the 6-foot-10 slotman from Cebu doesn’t know if he can still continue playing in the next World Cup following the emergence of younger, bigger, athletic and highly-skilled players like Sotto and Edu.
“I am very excited, of course,” Fajardo said in Filipino.
“This is my third World Cup if ever I’ll make it, but more than that, we’re seeing the new look of Philippine basketball and I’m more than willing to help in any way I can while playing with these younger, faster and more skilled big men.”
Fajardo used to be in Sotto and Edu’s shoes.
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- PHOTOGRAPHs COURTESY OF FIBAKAI Sotto and AJ Edu offer an exciting future for Philippine basketball.
In fact, he was a project player who served as backup to naturalized player Marcus Douthit when he campaigned in the 2013 FIBA Asia Men’s Championship in Manila.
When the Philippines qualified for the 2014 World Cup, Fajardo used the opportunity to learn at the feet of a legitimate NBA player — naturalized player Andray Blatche — while banging bodies with veteran international campaigners during the FIBA World Cup in Seville, Spain.
Fajardo and Blatche again teamed up five years later in China but the Gilas squad that was hastily assembled by head coach Yeng Guiao got an early boot.
Now 33 and is being battered by a series of injuries, Fajardo is starting to think how long he can endure the heavy pounding in the international arena and this coming World Cup will be a major test as he watches his younger, faster and taller teammates man the post.
With that, Sotto is expected to take a step back and let his younger teammates share the bulk of the rebounding and defensive chores.
He said his main task right now is to get better and stronger.
“I’m doing light workouts, five-on-five drills, nothing heavy,” Fajardo said.
“But my body is responding well. Thank God, I didn’t have to undergo operation in my previous injury, but only requires continued therapy.”
Father Time is truly catching up on Fajardo.
But with a pair of rising stars ready to take the frontline, he can finally take it easy and happily stroll into the sunset of the international battle.
Philippine basketball is in good hands.
