Selection team formed for 50 greatest list
Ramon Fernandez, Atoy Co and Allan Caidic will have some say in determining whether former teammates and adversaries, and players past their generation are worthy of joining them in the PBA’s 50 Greatest Players list.
The three past Most Valuable Player winners were among the 10 individuals that included a former coach, an ex-commissioner and five media men named to the selection committee that will try to find common ground in filling out 10 slots to add to the 40 previously recognized greats during the league’s 25th and 40th anniversary celebrations.
Legendary Toyota coach Dante Silverio, former commissioner and longtime PBA official Sonny Barrios are also part of the committee, along with former sports editors Ding Marcelo and Al Mendoza. Current Philippine Star editor and Philippine Sportswriters Association president Nelson Beltran and veteran broadcasters Quinito Henson and Andy Jao are also part of the committee.
Snubbed
They are set to convene on Thursday for the first of a series of meetings to nominate and eventually select former and current players who they feel have the credentials to back up their inclusion to the elite group that will be honored as part of the PBA’s 50th anniversary.
It will be interesting to see if the committee can agree if those snubbed from 40 Greatest list like Nelson Asaytono, Abe King, Arnie Tuadles and Manny Victorino can finally make it along with other potential candidates from recent eras like Danny Seigle, Olsen Racela, Jeffrey Cariaso, Bong Hawkins and Ranidel de Ocampo.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said he’ll recommend the automatic inclusion of San Miguel Beer star June Mar Fajardo, given his status as the league’s lone eight-time MVP and his countless accomplishments.
Fernandez is the first four-time MVP of the league while Co was a key fixture in Crispa’s 13 titles and two Grand Slams. Caidic, meanwhile, is one of the league’s all-time scorers and three-point shooters.
