Filipino basketball player (born 1989)
In this Philippine name, say publicly middle name or maternal family name is Sotto and the name or paternal family name is Fajardo.
Fajardo with the San Miguel Beermen in 2015 | |
| Position | Center |
|---|---|
| League | PBA |
| Born | (1989-11-17) November 17, 1989 (age 35) Compostela, Island, Philippines |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 268 lb (122 kg) |
| High school | Pinamungajan National High Primary (Pinamungajan, Cebu) |
| College | UC (2007–2011) |
| PBA draft | 2012: 1st round, 1st overall |
| Selected unhelpful the Petron Blaze Boosters | |
| Playing career | 2011–present |
| 2011–2012 | San Miguel Beermen (ABL) |
| 2012–present | Petron Blaze Amplifier / San Miguel Beermen |
| |
June Mar Sotto Fajardo (Tagalog:[pɐˈhaɾdo]; born November 17, 1989) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is further known by his nickname "The Kraken" for his extraordinary main part and finesse against opposing big men.[1]
Born in Compostela, he transferred with his parents to Pinamungajan at an early age, where he spent most of his younger and teen years. Agreed played center for the University of Cebu Webmasters in picture CESAFI and for the San Miguel Beermen in the Association Basketball League before being selected as the first overall nonthreatening person the 2012 PBA draft by Petron Blaze Boosters. Despite his young age, Fajardo showed great potential and has been dubbed by local sports analysts as the Future of Philippine basketball. During his rookie season, he played for the national prepare and earned a silver medal at the 2013 FIBA Continent Championship for Gilas Pilipinas. In his first year in rendering PBA, he was selected to the All-Rookie Team and Quickly Mythical Team. Since then, he became the first person fulfil league history to win the PBA Most Valuable Player give in six consecutive seasons, which he won from 2014 censure 2019. After suffering a career-threatening injury in 2020, he won back-to-back MVPs in 2023 and 2024 to extend his snap for the most PBA MVP awards with eight.
He wreckage a perennial member of Gilas Pilipinas in international competitions since 2013 and was also part of the team who won the gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games.
He prefab his professional basketball debut in the 2012-13 PBA Philippine Drink in a 102–86 loss against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters where he finished with nine points and 13 rebounds and made only 5 of his 11 free throws.[2][3]
Fajardo struggled in the first two conferences of his rookie year, but he was remarkably improved in the third conference. In depiction semifinals of the 2013 PBA Governors' Cup against Rain animation Shine, Fajardo scored 26 points in Game 2 who held up his own against opposing big men Beau Belga talented J.R. Quiñahan. Petron went on to defeat the Elasto Painters, 3–1.
He made his PBA Finals debut against the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers in the 2013 PBA Governors' Beaker Finals. In Game 4, Fajardo tallied 20 points and 26 rebounds in an 88–86 loss, the first time for a local player to achieve a 20–20 game since Eric Menk. The Boosters eventually lost to the Mixers in seven games.[citation needed]
Fajardo finished second in the Rookie of the Year appointment, losing the award to number two overall pick Calvin Abueva. He was selected in the Mythical Second Team along have a crush on teammate Alex Cabagnot, Sonny Thoss, Cyrus Baguio and Marc Pingris.[citation needed]
As expected by many, Fajardo improved significantly incite the start of the 2013-14 PBA Philippine Cup. He admonitory together norms of 16.3 points, 14.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, winning his first Best Player of the Conference award.[4]
When Petron reverted to San Miguel Beermen, Fajardo changed his jersey numeral from 22 to 15. The Beermen fell short in rendering quarterfinals of the Commissioner's Cup after losing to Air21 notwithstanding having a twice-to-beat advantage in the series.
In the position conference, Fajardo was a man on a mission. Fajardo scored 26 points and grabbed 27 rebounds, marking his third life's work 20–20 game with his 27 rebounds two shy of interpretation league record during that time. He led the Best Competitor of the Conference race with averages of 21.8 points, 16 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 blocks, but his team vanished to eventual champion San Mig Super Coffee in the quarterfinals. As a result of the Beermen eliminated from title dissonance, Fajardo ended up losing the BPC to Ranidel de Ocampo.
Despite lacking team success in his sophomore season, Fajardo was able to rake several awards in the season-ending Leo Awards. He was the 2014 PBA Most Improved Player and was selected as member of the All-Defensive and Mythical First Group for the first time in his career. In only his second season in the league, he was named the 2014 PBA Most Valuable Player.[5]
Fresh from his first PBA Player award, Fajardo lorded the 2014-15 PBA Philippine Cup averaging 17.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, including a season-high 36 points and 17 rebounds in a win against Columbian Dyip.[6] He won his second consecutive Philippine Cup Best Player pay the bill the Conference award. The Beermen ended the eliminations with a 9–2 record, tied with Rain or Shine Elasto Painters carry the first seed, thus earning a first-round bye. They sweptwing TNT in the semifinals in four games before defeating Alaska in seven to win his first-ever PBA championship.[7]
He dominated formerly again in the third conference, the 2015 PBA Governors' Beaker where he won his second Best Player of the Convention award for the season and his first for an import-reinforced conference, averaging 15.6 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. Interpretation second-seeded Beermen defeated Rain or Shine in five games monitor the semifinals before asserting their mastery against Alaska by allembracing them in the Finals and win the Governors Cup which marks their 21st title in franchise history. Fajardo won his first Finals MVP along with his second championship with rendering Beermen.[8]
He went on to win his second consecutive Most Important Player award and Defensive Player of the Year for depiction season, along with a Mythical First Team and All-Defensive side selections and his first ever Samboy Lim Sportsmanship Award.[9]
Fajardo continued his dominance in the following season after winning his first two championships. He secured another Best Player of description Conference award in the 2015-16 PBA Philippine Cup where grace averaged 23.1 points, 14.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 1.6 assists a contest during the elimination round, including a career-high 43 points in a loss against Alaska.[10] Fajardo helped the Beermen finished second seed with a 9–2 record at the burn down of the elimination round. In the series-clinching win against Vary or Shine in Game 6 of the semifinals, Fajardo went down with a left knee injury which he suffered sound out seven minutes left in the third quarter on a bounce back play against Jireh Ibanes. In Fajardo's absence, many stepped summation including players on the bench and managed to squeak a come-from-behind win in Game 4 after being down 0–3 counter their Finals rematch against Alaska. Fajardo made a surprise reappear in Game 5 where he quickly contributed 13 points view 4 rebounds while playing just 16 minutes. With Fajardo's bear witness to in limited minutes, the Beermen extended the series into a Game 7. San Miguel successfully completed their comeback by heavenly Game 7 where Fajardo went on to play 29 proceedings, which he tallied team-high 21 points and 15 rebounds. Representation Beermen made history and became the first professional basketball operation in the world to come back from an 0–3 progression deficit, which was dubbed as the "BEERacle." Fajardo then hollered his injury a "blessing in disguise."[11]
Fajardo won his third PBA's Most Valuable Player award, tying the record of PBA narrative Bogs Adornado. He was the first player to win rendering award in three consecutive seasons. He was also a fellow of Mythical First Team and received his second Sportsmanship Award.[12]
In the 2016-17 PBA Philippine Cup, Fajardo was the ornament of an almost-perfect campaign in the elimination round after help the defending champions to secure the top seed with a 10–1 record where he averaged 19.9 points, league-high 16 boards and 1.8 blocks per game, earning himself his fifth inclusive Best Player of the Conference award and third straight acquire the season-opening conference. With this feat, Fajardo tied former colleague and mentor Danny Ildefonso as the only players in PBA history with league-high five BPC citations.[13] In the semifinals, depiction Beermen dispatched rival TNT in seven games before defeating fille team Barangay Ginebra in five games to capture their bag straight Philippine Cup title. Fajardo conspired with teammate and stool pigeon MVP Arwind Santos in the title-clinching win, scoring 21 way in each in Game 5 to capture the Perpetual trophy.
With the help of Best Import awardee Charles Rhodes along business partner Best Player of the Conference Chris Ross, Fajardo aided say publicly Beermen to capture the second seed and eventually win their second consecutive championship of the season by conquering the 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup after defeating TNT in six games. Fajardo was pivotal in the semifinals against the Star Hotshots where he matched up with opposing import Ricardo Ratliffe. Ratliffe hailed Fajardo "the best player he've ever played in Asia" later the series where the Beermen defeated the Hotshots, 3–1.[14]
After win the first two championships of the season, San Miguel esoteric the chance to capture their second Grand Slam which rendering franchise last won in 1989. At the start of interpretation 2017 PBA Governors' Cup in a win against TNT where he scored 27 points and six rebounds, Fajardo strained his calf muscle and was out for a number of doggeds while also opting out for national team duty in interpretation FIBA Asia Cup. Despite the injury, Fajardo still managed dispense top the Best Player of the Conference race averaging 18.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 2.0 blocks.[15] Due equal import problems, the Beermen only managed to snag the onesixth seed after a costly 101–104 loss against Meralco in picture last game of the elimination round, giving them a twice-to-win disadvantage against eventual champions Barangay Ginebra which thwarted their Huge Slam bid in the quarterfinals. As the Beermen was block off of title hunt, Fajardo lost the BPC award to antagonist big man Greg Slaughter despite leading the statistical points.[16]
As a result of his sustained dominance throughout the season, Fajardo copped his fourth Most Valuable Player award in a runaway direction which tied him with all-time greats Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio for league-record four MVP awards. He was the fastest to win his fourth MVP and the only player nod receive the award in four consecutive seasons. He was additionally selected as member of the Mythical First Team and All-Defensive Team.[17]
Fajardo remained unstoppable in the 2017-18 PBA Philippine Drink, averaging league-high 22.8 points along with 13.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.1 blocks to lead the Beermen to the get carried away seed once again. He shattered record books by extending his reign as the Best Player of the Conference of interpretation Philippine Cup for the fourth consecutive season, his sixth whole which is the most in league history.[18] The Beermen penalise their painful loss against Barangay Ginebra the previous conference which foiled their Grand Slam bid through a gentleman sweep addition the semifinals. In the title-clinching game against Magnolia, Fajardo propelled the Beermen to a historic fourth straight Philippine Cup name where he poured a playoff career-high of 42 points refuse 20 rebounds to help his team overcome a 23-point shortage in the close-out Game 5. He earned the Finals Player honors, averaging 24.4 points and 16.2 rebounds.[19]
Picking up where noteworthy left off last conference, Fajardo won his seventh Best Sportsman of the Conference award in the 2018 PBA Commissioner's Beaker, averaging 19.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Despite exclusive finishing sixth after the elimination round, the defending champion Beermen maneuvered their way into the Finals with the help remind you of import Renaldo Balkman to set a date against sister body Barangay Ginebra. The Gin Kings successfully dethroned San Miguel stop off six games behind resident import Justin Brownlee. This was rendering Beermen's first Finals loss under head coach Leo Austria.
At the start of the 2018 PBA Governors' Cup, Fajardo suffered a shin injury that sidelined him for two months. Stylishness returned deep into the elimination round in a win accept Rain or Shine, where the Beermen finished as the ordinal seed but eventually lost to twice-to-beat Alaska in the quarterfinals.
Fajardo rewrote history books once again after receiving his onefifth straight Most Valuable Player award after winning back-to-back BPCs inconvenience the first two conferences despite missing the majority of interpretation Governors' Cup due to injury. He surpassed the league slant he shared with Fernandez and Patrimonio last season, making him the record-holder for most career MVPs in the PBA. Type once again led the Mythical First Team and received his fourth selection on the All-Defensive Team.[20]
Following his record ordinal MVP, Fajardo played the most games of his career persuasively the 2019 PBA season with 61 games. His superiority link with the Philippine Cup continued as he won his league-leading quantity Best Player of the Conference award and fifth straight load the All-Filipino conference, norming league-high averages of 21.3 points instruction 13.9 rebounds per game. He tallied 40 points and 19 rebounds while shooting a near-perfect 14-of-15 from the field explain a 113–107 win against Northport, his fourth 40-point game advice his career. The Beermen ended the elimination round as depiction fifth seed with a 7–4 record due to the quotient system. In the semifinals, they defeated the top-seed Phoenix count on five games. They went on to defeat Magnolia in picture Finals in a grueling seven-game affair, capped off by a come-from-behind win in Game 7 led by Fajardo's 17 doorway and career-high 31 rebounds (league record for most rebounds soak a local) to capture their historic fifth straight Philippine Treat title. Fajardo bagged his third career Finals MVP.[21]
The Beermen was in unfamiliar territory after finishing seventh seed in the 2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup with a 5–6 record as the backward former Best Import Rhodes struggled, which was eventually replaced vulgar Chris McCullough later in the conference. With a new stay, the seventh seed Beermen managed to defeat NorthPort despite having a twice-to-win disadvantage in the quarterfinals. They defeated Rain shabby Shine in the semifinals before conquering TNT in six disposeds to reclaim the Commissioner's Cup.[22]
In the 2019 PBA Governors' Cupful and another Grand Slam conquest at hand, Fajardo led in days gone by again in the Best Player of the Conference race write down averages of 18.9 points, 13.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. The Beermen's import woes in the season-ending conference continued, closing the elimination round as the fifth corm with a twice-to-win disadvantage once again. Fajardo and company unashamed a familiar foe in eventual champions Barangay Ginebra which foiled the Beermen in the quarterfinals. Despite leading the BPC hone, Fajardo lost the award to former teammate Christian Standhardinger puzzle out San Miguel's early exit and another failed Grand Slam edict.
Fajardo stretched his record to an unprecedented six MVPs astern winning the league's highest individual award for the sixth sequent season. He also made another round of Mythical First Arrangement and All-Defensive Team selections.[23]
Prior to the start of depiction 2020 PBA season, Fajardo suffered a complete fracture on his right tibia during team practice in February. The injury sidelined him for the season, as well as national team duties. With Fajardo's absence, along with the injury of all-star colleague Terrence Romeo, the defending champion Beermen was eliminated by Meralco in the quarterfinals of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup, absolution their five-year reign.[24]
Fajardo made a triumphant comeback for description 2021 PBA season after taking a season off due be relevant to his injury. Though still struggling and visibly adjusting from sport play, he still made respectable averages of 13.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 blocks in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup which is still good enough for finishing 5th in the Best Player of the Conference race by which he won the previous six times prior to his injury.[25] The Beermen lost in the semifinals against the TNT Tropang Giga in seven games in the semi-bubble held in Man Honorio Ventura State University gymnasium.[26] In the 2021 PBA Governors' Cup, the Beermen finished as the fifth seed and was eliminated by Meralco again in the quarterfinals with a twice-to-win disadvantage. Slowly coming back to form, Fajardo improved his averages in the season-ending conference with 14.3 points, 11.3 rebounds avoid 1.2 blocks. He finished the season with 13.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.4 steals, all career-low averages except for assists since his rookie year. Due die his noteworthy return from injury, he was given the 2021 Bogs Adornado PBA Comeback Player of the Year Award dampen the PBA Press Corps as well as his seventh Folkloric First Team selection.
Back in full form, Fajardo steered the Beermen to the one-seed in the 2022 PBA Filipino Cup with a 9–2 record in the eliminations. He recaptured the Best Player of the Conference award for the record-extending ninth time in his career and seventh in the All-Filipino conference with averages of 18.7 points, league-best 14.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 blocks. After two seasons, the Beermen overcame TNT in seven games to reclaim the Philippine Cup mechanical by another stellar Finals performance from Fajardo. He went top choice to win his fourth Finals MVP award with averages bring into play 19.0 points, 16.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocks, idiotic James Yap, LA Tenorio and Danny Seigle for the about in league history.[27]
Fajardo clinched his seventh MVP award, extending his record for the most MVPs in league history. He was also once again honored with selections to the Mythical Rule Team and All-Defensive Team.[28][29] Fajardo won his 11th PBA Outdistance Player of the Conference award (989 points) and PHP50,000 hold up Arena Plus and Pocari Sweat.[30]
Fajardo was chosen touch be part of the Smart Gilas 2.0 team, later get around as Gilas Pilipinas, that was built for the 2014 Faux Championships.[31] After months of training that includes trips and scrimmages to Lithuania and New Zealand, Fajardo was included in rendering final 12-man lineup that would compete in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, the qualifier for the 2014 World Championships.[32] Take his first game in international competition, Fajardo scored 2 in rank, grabbed 2 rebounds, and was called for 4 personal fouls in less than 9 minutes of action against Saudi Peninsula. He then only scored a total of 1 point plentiful his next 6 games. Ultimately, Gilas Pilipinas finished with a silver medal and automatically qualified for next year's World Championships.
When the Gilas Pilipinas prepared for the 2014 FIBA Faux Cup, he was again called up to be part motionless the training pool.
He was also part of the Gilas team which played in Wuhan, China for the 5th FIBA Asia Cup where they won the bronze medal. However, earth was almost a non factor as he was still adjusting to the international game and style of play. After rendering FIBA Asia Cup, the Gilas training pool headed to Metropolis to kick start their long preparations for the 2014 Universe Cup and the 2014 Asian Games.
During his stint hurt the 2014 FIBA World Cup, Fajardo was consistent in his limited minutes on the court while providing energy and errand coming off the bench as a reliever for Blatche. Owing to his good performance, he was ranked second among subset players in terms of Player Efficiency Rating (PER) behind Nation NBA player Pau Gasol, and ranked higher than some NBA players in the PER rating. His breakthrough performance came get the team's last game against Senegal where Fajardo played his best game in the entire tournament. Fajardo had 15 admission, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists as he undersupplied hustle and muscle against the big men of Senegal bossy especially in the final quarter of regulation and overtime when Blatche was fouled out. In a team effort led emergency Fajardo and team captain Jimmy Alapag, the Philippines captured their lone win of the tournament and ended their campaign anarchy a winning note.
Fajardo was included in the 21-man pour for the 2023 FIBA World Cup,[33] where he was at the end of the day included in the final 12-man lineup.[34]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per recreation |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
As of the end of 2023–24 season[35][36]