WHO needs June Mar Fajardo?
Us all. Not just the San Miguel Beer.
We need his reassuring presence in a game we all love.
He is our basketball world, not just half of it, three fourth of it.
But he can’t be our axis all of the time. For, in the end, like us, he is also human. Prone to imperfection. Vulnerable.
So, one misstep and, boom!, he fractured his shin bone. Heck, during practice.
One season lost at the very least.
One year to fully recover at the most.
With his father, June, and mother, Maritess, acceding to his request that they share the spotlight with him on stage, June Mar said, “I grew up poor and I just want to give them a good life.”
So much of the good life, indeed, being enjoyed at the moment that his parents now bask in the luxury of a comfortable home in their native Cebu—not to mention a thriving business consistently spitting out revenues huge enough “not to make them worry where the next meal will come from.”
Easily, Fajardo would lose millions from unearned income during his anticipated absence in the 45h PBA season.
Still, Fajardo, simply another rags-to-riches fairy tale, told the Inquirer’s Cedelf Tupas: “I told myself I will not rush my recovery.”
Meaning, the next plum to be plucked would have to wait after the 6-foot-10 gentle giant had won his sixth Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in as many years in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
When he showed up for his unprecedented coronation on Sunday, Fajardo, 30, was, literally, the embodiment of everything that should be good in basketball: decent, humble and, most commendable of all, a good son.
And, even as he rolled heroically onto the stage to receive his trophy on board a mobility scooter, courtesy of his No. 1 benefactor, San Miguel Corp. President/CEO Ramon S. Ang, Fajardo, despite his state of immobility, appeared resplendent, oozing with smile and brimming with hope.
“I want to be 100 percent ready when I come back,” he said. “I won’t take any shortcuts in my recovery.”
To real superstars, indeed, haste makes waste.