Former San Sebastian Stags stalwart and now Alaska’s most reliable basketball star Calvin Abueva got his rightful place among the league’s greats after he was named as the Best Player of the Conference for the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. Calvin Abueva claimed his first individual award for 2016 during the Game 4 of the PBA Finals.
The Alaska Aces forward nicknamed “The Beast” dominated the PBA’s second conference as he outshone his rivals after averaging 17.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 steals to lead his team to the Finals.
Calvin Abueva amassed a total of 1,150 votes, 413 coming from stats, 493 media votes, 94 player votes, and 150 votes from the PBA. He also reigned over stats leader Greg Slaughter of Ginebra (752 votes), GlobalPort super scorer Terrence Romeo (488 votes), TNT slasher Jayson Castro (482 votes), and Blackwater sophomore Carlo Lastimosa (378 votes) to claim his first BPC plum.
The Alaska Aces reliable forward became the first San Sebastian alumnus to get the distinction as the Best Player of the Conference player. Abueva also became the sixth Alaska player to win the BPC award, following the footsteps of Kenneth Duremdes (twice), Bong Hawkins, Johnny Abarrientos, Ali Peek and Willie Miller.
During the Game 4 of the PBA Finals between Rain or Shine and Alaska, aside from Calvin Abueva also honored is Arinze Onauku who was named as the Bobby Parks Best Import Award for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup 2016. The hulking Meralco reinforcement led the turnaround for the Bolts, clawing back from dead last in the Philippine Cup to the semifinals this conference.
He topped the field with 1132 votes to lord over competitors Pierre Henderson-Niles of Rain or Shine (871 votes), Rob Dozier of Alaska (692 votes), and Arizona Reid of San Miguel (555 votes).
