Barangay Ginebra San Miguel superstar Scottie Thompson is leading the Player of the Year award of FIBA Asia, putting him on the verge of becoming the third Filipino to bag the prestigious honor following Kai Sotto and Kristan Yumul.
Known for their all-out passion in basketball, Filipino fans rallied behind Thompson and installed him as the frontrunner for the award ahead of Wael Arakji of Lebanon, Zhou Qi of China, Dar Tucker of Jordan, Yuta Watanabe of Japan, Sanchir Tungalag of Mongolia, Benam Yakhchali of Iran and Freddie Lish of Thailand.
The reigning Philippine Basketball Association Most Valuable Player garnered 6,712 votes in the initial polling that was organized in brackets of three rounds — quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
Arakji, for his part, is at far second with 2,944 votes while Tungalag is at third with 2,318, Yakhchali at fourth with 1,758, Lish at fifth with 1,257, Tucker at sixth with 1,023, Watanabe at eighth with 913, and Zhou at ninth with 303.
According to the International Basketball Federation, fans will have one day from where the bracket is posted starting 27 December to show their support to their favorite player.
The players who will emerge with the most votes will advance to the next round until the Player of the Year in 2022 Fan Vote is decided on 30 December.
“I am very happy for Scottie. He has played very well and transformed himself to the international game. He deserves it,” wrote Samahang Baketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio in a text message to Daily Tribune.
SBP spokesperson Sonny Barrios said Thompson’s nomination brought pride and honor to the country.
“It will be a great honor for the country and, of course, the SBP,” Barrios said.
“For sure, it will be a big boost to our hosting of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.”
Former national team member Jojo Lastimosa was also impressed with Thompson’s rise to stardom.
“That’s good for Scottie and good for the league,” Lastimosa, the current TNT Tropang Giga team manager who played a crucial role in the country’s campaign in the 1998 Asian Games, said.
“Players need to understand where Scottie is coming from. Nobody really knew him all that well coming out of college. We see all these players from college now bringing their game abroad thinking they will do well and never thought of proving themselves first in the PBA like what Scottie has done.”
