Meet the newest additions to form PBA 50 Greatest Players list

April 6 ------ The PBA announced the 10 new players to be added to the league's Greatest Players list ahead of the golden anniversary on April 9. Leading the additions are the only active players in the list in June Mar Fajardo and Scottie Thompson after the former copped a record eight MVP titles with San Miguel and the latter captured the top individual plum in Season 46 with Barangay Ginebra.  

In the past, PBA MVPs have an automatic slot in the Greatest Players list. The newest additions to the list include: 

• June Mar Fajardo 

• Scottie Thompson 

• Abe King 

• Nelson Asaytono 

• Jeffrey Cariaso 

• Bong Hawkins 

• Arnie Tuadles 

• Danny Seigle 

• Manuel Victorino 

• Yoyoy Villamin. 

Asaytono played in the PBA for 17 seasons and has seven titles across his name while also copping two Best Player of the Conference while Cariaso, the current Blackwater head coach, is an eight-time PBA champion and was part of the Alaska team that nailed the grand slam feat in 1996. Hawkins played for 14 seasons for multiple teams like Presto, Sta. Lucia, and Alaska and had won the championship eight times while King suited up for San Miguel, Presto, and Purefoods, winning 13 titles in a span of 18 seasons. 

Siegle is known as one of most dominant big men of his time, winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1999 before he went on bagging two Best Player of the Conference and four Finals MVP. He also boasts eight titles in a 17-year stint. Tuadles was the 1979 Rookie of the Year with Toyota and is a nine-time champion, while Victorino emerged as the Most Improved Player in 1984 and has six titles.  

The list was decided by a select members of a panel made up of three former MVPs in Allan Caidic, Ramon Fernandez, and Atoy Co as well as Dante Silverio, Sonny Barrios, Ding Marcelo, Al Mendoza, Nelson Beltran, Quinito Henson, and Andy Jao. Sonny Barrios, the chairman of the committee, said they started out the selection process by each submitting an independent list of their nominees before evaluating every player. "Ang pinili natin ay 'yung mga nag-display ng exceptional na basketball skills. 'Yung may impact sa liga, sa PBA. In other words, hindi lang dahil magaling 'yung ginawa sa college," Barrios said. 

Source: gmanetwork.com