25 THINGS ABOUT THE GREATEST LOCAL PBA PLAYER TO WEAR JERSEY NUMBER 42:

1. Born June 14, 1976 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

2. Was Lackawanna League North Player of the Year from 1992 to 1994, following in the footsteps of older brother Andy who won it from 1989 to 1991.

3. Led Carbondale High to a State record 59 straight wins in 1993 and 1994

4. Led Carbondale High to the State Championship in 1993, scoring 27 points in the title game

5. With him at the helm for 3 years, Carbondale High posted an amazing 82-3 win-loss record

6. Scored 1,337 points in 3 years at Carbondale.

7. In college, scored 1,652 points for Wagner, the sixth most in school history when he left in 1998.

8. Was 1999 PBA Rookie of the Year.

9. 1 of only 3 Best Player of the Conference winners to win the award in during a rookie year

10. Has won the all-time most number of Finals MVP awards with 4, in the:

a. 2001 All-Filipino Cup

b. 2000 Governors’ Cup

c. 1999 Governors’ Cup (shared with Danny Ildefonso)

d. 1999 Commissioner’s Cup

11. Scored in double figures in 31 of his first 32 games as a rookie in 1999

12. Scored at least 1,000 points in his first 4 seasons (1999-2001, 2003), the first player to do it since Ricardo Brown with Great Taste/Presto (1983-86)

13. 1 of only 5 players from the San Miguel Beer/Petron Blaze franchise to win Rookie of the Year honors (Marte Saldana 1982, Bong Ravena 1992, Danny Ildefonso 1998 & Rabeh Al-Hussaini 2010-11)

14. 1 of only 8 Rookie of the Year winners to also make it to the league’s Mythical First Team on the same year.

15. 1 of 12 players with multiple Best Player of the Conference awards.

16. Scored his career 43 points in Ormoc City on March 17, 2005 in the 2005 Fiesta Conference when San Miguel Beer defeated Sta. Lucia in double OT 97-94.

17. Grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds on October 22, 2006 in the 2006-07 Philippine Cup when San Miguel Beer beat Barangay Ginebra in overtime 101-97 at the Cuneta Astrodome.

18. The longest streak scoring at least 20 points in 19 consecutive games in the 2006 Philippine Cup.

19. Is the 2nd all-time leading scorer in San Miguel Beer/Petron Blaze franchise history with his 7,033 points, next only to Danny Ildefonso.

20. Has the most number of career free throws made among active players (1858 thru 2012 Commissioner’s Cup).

21. Played in 14 PBA Finals and ending up winning the championship in half of them, all with San Miguel Beer.

22. Holds the all-time record among locals for most minutes played (54) in a championship game which he recorded as a rookie on November 8, 1999 when San Miguel Beer defeated Alaska 87-80 in double overtime in Game 1 of the Governors’ Cup title series.

23. Made 11 straight two-point field goals – tied for the 4th all-time longest streak among locals in game – on June 23, 2006 when San Miguel Beer lost to Red Bull 99-95 in Game 3 of their best-of-7 semifinal in the Philippine Cup.

24. Is a 3-time Mythical First Team and 1-time Mythical Second Team member

25. Officially played in 6 All-Star Games but was voted in 3 other years, including being the No. 1 in 2004.