An MVP without a ring

What a year for Gary David

It's still too early, and Barangay Ginebra's Mark Cagouia could suddenly lead his team all the way to the finals and at the very least salvage 1st runner-up (tying Powerade's Gary David's feat this season) but based on all the statistics, David is in line to win the PBA's coveted Most Valuable Player award at season's end.

Granted, the one factor that trumps even the greatest of points-rebounds-assists/ efficiency averages: the media and players' votes, could overturn such ruling but you cannot make an argument against David. There's just no point in making one. The man averaged 25 to 30 plus points at different times in all three conferences, the Tigers' offense ran through him and he's the only player in recent memory since San Miguel's Nelson Asaytono that has the green light from the coaching staff to keep shooting 'til his arms fall off.

Even when circumstances (and off-court politics) took away his newfound running-mate in rookie Marcio Lassiter and the Tigers were written off this conference, David was the one constant who stuck to his guns (quite literally) and blasted his way into giving his team a shot. They won versus the Barako Bull Energy yesterday, but just didn't have enough to overcome a vastly under-rated yet loaded Meralco Bolts squad that had a legit scorer-stopper in NBA veteran import Mario West.

While people were pinning their hopes on JVee Casio and his emerging role as the Tigers' point guard and leader going forward, it was and still is David who is widely considered as the team's number one threat on offense.

David's hardwork this season didn't go unnoticed, as the elite sniper was handpicked by national team head coach Chot Reyes to represent the country in the coming FIBA qualifiers. That says a lot about a guy who isn't playing for the "big teams" and went under the radar for so long that people almost missed out on his greatness.

The MVP award would validate David's efforts this season and further establish him as one of the league's premier scorers. Does he need it? It would be nice to put on his resume yes, but given his age and how long he'll be playing at this level as the main man-- a championship would undoubtedly be even sweeter.