Benjie Paras, the lone PBA player who made a record as the first player who won Rookie of the Year and MVP on his first year will be inducted in the prestigious PBA Hall of Fame together with team mate Ronnie Magsanoc.
Paras and Magsanoc will be the newest members of the league’s elite group along with pioneer player Lim Eng Beng and late coach Ed Ocampo. Benjie Paras was also named as two-time Most Valuable Player in the PBA first on 1989 before repeating the feat 10 years later.
He was nicknamed as Tower of Power, one of the first truly athletic centers in the league playing above the rim. Paras was also named as one of PBA’s 25 Greatest Players during the league’s silver anniversary in 2000.
Paras formed Shell’s “Awesome Threesome” along with Paras and Hall of Fame import Bobby Parks, leading the franchise to two championships and fellow hall of famer Ronnie Magsanoc.
Meanwhile Lim Eng Beng was a pioneering Filipino-Chinese player in the PBA, who starred for several teams, most notably U/TEX, during the early years of the PBA. Like Paras and Magsanoc, he was also part of the league’s 25 Greatest list.
Ocampo, a former national team member during the pre-PBA days, won four championships as a coach in the league, where he called the shots for San Miguel Beer, Toyota, and Pepsi. The four men will be the latest inductees after a vote by the PBA honors committee headed by commissioner Chito Salud and chairman Robert Non.
Already in the PBA Hall of Fame are the inaugural batch consisting Robert Jaworski, Ramon Fernandez, Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Bogs Adornado, Francis Arnaiz, Baby Dalupan, Leo Prieto, Emerson Coseteng, Rudy Salud, Danny Floro and Joe Cantada.
Other members of the notable PBA Hall of Fame were, Abet Guidaben, Manny Paner, Danny Florencio, Norman Black, Ron Jacobs, Domingo Itchon, Danding Cojuangco, Dante Silverio, Tony Siddayao, Pinggoy Pengson, Bobby Parks, Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim, Hector Calma, Ricky Brown, Honeyboy Palanca, Jun Bernardino, Alvin Patrimonio, Billy Ray Bates, Freddie Hubalde, Tommy Manotoc, Tito Eduque, Mariano Yenko and Bobong Velez.