This is a five-part blog on the best players of the PBA in the 2023-24 season.
For this list, I used this multiplier:
POINTS | 1.25
REBOUNDS | 1.5
ASSISTS | 2
STEALS | 2.5
BLOCKS | 2.75
To make the list, the players must have 400 total stats or more. To rank higher on the list, the players must have a combined average of 20 or more.
This list favors the teams with the most games. Gone are the days when the best team gets at least 60 games, but it’s safe to say that most players on this list had a combined 25 or more games.
10 | ROBERT BOLICK | NLEX ROAD WARRIORS
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 10 – 14 (.417)
2024 PBA ALL-STAR MVP
SEASON AVERAGES | 25.3PPG – 5.3RPG – 7.5APG – 0.9SPG
Not all hoopers have a good international experience and Robert Bolick is one of them. Wanting to stay close to his family, Bolick returned to the PBA, and his rights were traded to the NLEX. With the Road Warriors, he faced a similar predicament as he did in Northport. He had multiple 30 and 40-point games in the Philippine Cup, but they weren't enough to take NLEX to the top. Bolick finished the season number one in points, rebounds, and assists for the Road Warriors. I guess as consolation, Berto was adjudged as this season's All-Star MVP.
9 | MARK BARROCA | MAGNOLIA HOTSHOTS
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 21 – 13 (.618)
2023-24 PBA COMMISSIONER’S CUP FINALIST
2024 PBA ALL-STAR SELECTION
SEASON AVERAGES | 14.0PPG – 3.3RPG – 4.7APG – 1.4SPG
Among the three remaining players from Magnolia's grand slam squad (then-called San Mig Coffee,) Mark Barroca has had the best career. In 11 of his 12 seasons in the league, Barroca averaged 8 points and more. The 2023-24 PBA season is no exception. Sure, Tyler Bey had a hand in Magnolia's Commissioner's Cup finals appearance, but The Coffee Prince was the team's best local scorer. And while Ian Sangalang led the team in scoring in the Philippine Cup, the former Smart-Gilas guard raised his numbers in that conference, averaging 15.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.8 steals. He also made his ninth All-Star appearance this season.
8 | STEPHEN HOLT | TERRAFIRMA DYIP
PBA DRAFT | ROUND 1 – PICK 1
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 9 – 16 (.360)
SEASON AVERAGES | 17.0PPG – 6.9RPG – 5.5APG – 1.9SPG
It's hard to say that Stephen Holt is a rookie. I think becoming Terrafirma's Philippine Cup import sounds better. I know there is no such thing as a Philippine Cup import, but Holt's entry to the squad helped Team Dyip's 2023-24 season. In some ways, it's no surprise that Holt could be the second player after CJ Perez to score a Mythical spot while playing for the squad. And while I know that most fans hate that he's one-and-done with Terrafirma, at least his gameplay alongside Isaac Go, is considered by the PBA office as a fair deal for Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle.
7 | SCOTTIE THOMPSON | BARANGAY GINEBRA KINGS
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 20 – 14 (.588)
2023-24 PBA COMMISSIONER’S CUP SEMIFINALIST
2023-24 PBA PHILIPPINE CUP SEMIFINALIST
SEASON AVERAGES | 10.3PPG – 7.3RPG – 6.2APG – 1.5SPG – 0.8BPG
Scottie Thompson does a lot of Scottie Thompson things on the guard. If you're not familiar with his playing style, he's a 6'1 dude who can pass and steal but at the same time, carom the ball as if he's the size of June Mar Fajardo. With that said, this is not a good year for Scottie. He missed nine games because of injury, and his numbers across the board have dipped. His points, rebounds, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three-point percentage are his lowest in four seasons. With that said, his worst season is probably the season most players want to have.
6 | ARVIN TOLENTINO | NORTHPORT BATANG PIER
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 11 – 13 (.458)
2024 PBA ALL-STAR SELECTION
SEASON AVERAGES | 21.8PPG – 6.6RPG – 3.3APG – 1.6SPG – 1.0BPG
Moving to Northport unlocked his true potential and the player picked after Maurice Shaw, Clint Doliguez, and Prince Rivero in the 2019 PBA Draft is probably in the running for a Mythical Second Team spot. The former FEU Tamaraw averaged 22.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.7 blocks in the Commissioner's Cup and his numbers in the Philippine Cup are just as efficient. If he continues to be the Batang Pier's main man, it's probably easy for him to replicate his past season numbers.
5 | CALVIN OFTANA | TNT TROPANG GIGA
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 12 – 14 (.462)
2024 PBA ALL-STAR SELECTION
SEASON AVERAGES | 21.8PPG – 8.0RPG – 2.6APG – 0.9SPG
I have been saying this for some time now. TNT's Season 48 roster is probably their weakest in years. Having said that, Calvin Oftana went from 13.6ppg to 21.8ppg. The promising 28-year-old also averaged 21 points and more in the Philippine Cup and Commissioner's Cup. The last time a local TNT player averaged 21 points or more was Asi Taulava during his MVP year in 2003. While he gets the fifth spot here, I don't know if Oftana will make the Mythical First Team. Hopefully, the former San Beda Red Lion wins at least a Mythical Team spot.
4 | CHRIS NEWSOME | MERALCO BOLTS
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 25 – 14 (.641)
2023-24 PBA PHILIPPINE CUP CHAMPION
2023-24 PBA PHILIPPINE CUP FINALS MVP
2024 PBA ALL-STAR SELECTION
SEASON AVERAGES | 16.2PPG – 5.5RPG – 4.4APG – 1.0SPG
Chris Newsome is arguably the heart and soul of the Meralco Bolts. That said, despite averaging double digits in his entire PBA run, the former Ateneo Blue Eagle never won a single PBA award. That all changed when he led the Meralco Bolts to their first-ever PBA title where he was also named Finals MVP. This also came from the heels of an exceptional Gilas Pilipinas campaign where he won a gold medal in the Asian Games. Newsome might be a long shot to win the MVP award, but he's on track to snag a spot on the Mythical First Team.
3 | CHRISTIAN STANDHARDINGER | BARANGAY GINEBRA KINGS
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 20 – 14 (.588)
2023-24 PBA COMMISSIONER’S CUP SEMIFINALIST
2023-24 PBA PHILIPPINE CUP SEMIFINALIST
SEASON AVERAGES | 19.2PPG – 10.2RPG – 5.0APG – 0.7SPG
Christian Standhardinger played in all of Ginebra's games this season and he led the team in points and rebounds and is second in assists after Scottie Thompson. In terms of stats sans the awards, C-Stan has an outside chance to win the MVP award. I mean, Mark Caguioa won the award without making a finals trip in 2011-12. However, the difference between C-Stan and The Spark is the BPC awards Caguioa got that season. And this is why despite averaging 21.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the Philippine Cup, the now-Terrafirma player is going to settle for at least a Mythical First Team citation.
2 | CJ PEREZ | SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 33 – 11 (.750)
2023-24 PBA COMMISSIONER’S CUP CHAMPION
2023-24 PBA PHILIPPINE CUP FINALIST
2023-24 PBA COMMISSIONER’S CUP BEST PLAYER
2023-24 PBA COMMISSIONER’S CUP FINALS MVP
2024 PBA ALL-STAR SELECTION
SEASON AVERAGES | 18.9PPG – 6.3RPG – 3.7APG – 1.9SPG
As the reigning Commissioner's Cup Best Player of the Conference, he is technically our best chance to thwart June Mar Fajardo's seventh MVP award. That said, Baby Beast has one thing JMF doesn't have this season. If there is one reason for a shocking turnaround, it's the fact that Perez has a Finals MVP for helping the Beermen win the Commissioner's Cup. I know CJ's numbers weren't as awesome as his Philippine Cup numbers but it helped that Bennie Boatwright was able to take a couple of The Kraken's touches. He also led the Beermen in points, assists, and steals and unlike June Mar, Perez played in all of San Miguel's 44 games.
1 | JUNE MAR FAJARDO | SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN
2023-24 OVERALL TEAM RECORD | 33 – 11 (.750)
2023-24 PBA COMMISSIONER’S CUP CHAMPION
2023-24 PBA PHILIPPINE CUP FINALIST
2023-24 PBA PHILIPPINE CUP BEST PLAYER
2024 PBA ALL-STAR SELECTION
SEASON AVERAGES | 17.8PPG – 13.4RPG – 2.8APG – 0.7SPG – 1.7BPG
June Mar Fajardo is unfair. He started his career with arguably the best team in the past decade and despite having the best players as his teammates, he still puts up monster numbers. And he is an unstoppable center as well. Ramon Fernandez, the player closest to JMF as a generational talent, played alongside Abet Guidaben, Philip Cezar, Manny Paner, Rudy Kutch, Abe King, and Manny Victorino. In contrast, the only players who can get the same numbers as June Mar are Christian Standhardinger, Arwind Santos, and Greg Slaughter. Mind you, two of these players became his teammates (C-Stan and Arwind,) and two of them are now out of the league (Arwind and Slaughter.) Part of me wants to blame the collegiate foreign athletes for messing up the development of our big men, but June Mar is really that good. Again, it's unfair that he is the top player of a title-driven franchise, but whether you like it or not, he is poised to win his seventh MVP trophy.