Scottie Thompson capped off a career year in his 6th season with Barangay Ginebra by winning his first 2021-22 PBA season's Most Valuable Player award on Sunday during the 46th Season Leo Awards.
Thompson, 28, fended off TNT Tropang Giga's Mikey Williams, Magnolia Hotshots' Calvin Abueva, and NorthPort Batang Pier's Robert Bolick to become the first Ginebra player since Mark Caguioa in the 2011-12 season to bag the trophy.
The 6-foot-1 do-it-all guard garnered 951 statistical points, 259 points from the player vote, 1327 points from the media, and 300 points from the PBA for a total of 2836 points - over 1500 more than the second-place player in Williams (1332).
Thompson suited up in 33 of the Gin Kings' 36 games last season and averaged career-best figures of 13.9 points and 9.0 rebounds (third in the league) to go with 5.4 assists (third) and 1.2 steals (9th) in 38.3 minutes per contest. He shot 47.9 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from 3, and 70 percent from the line for a True Shooting Percentage (TS%) of 57.5 percent - all personal bests as well.
Bolstering his case in a tight race were the Best Player of the Conference and Finals MVP trophies that Thompson won in the season-ending Governors' Cup following a successful title defense for Ginebra in the import-laden conference. The Gin Kings beat Meralco in six games for their fourth title there over the last six seasons.
Meanwhile, MVP runner-up Williams will instead settle for one trophy -- the Rookie of the Year, where he was a runaway choice for the award.
Williams, the fourth overall pick of the 46th Season Draft, recorded a league-high 19.5 points per game while adding 4.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists for a Tropang Giga team that relied on the 30-year-old's tremendous offensive production to win the 2021 Philippine Cup - the franchise's first-ever title since 2015. He also became the first player in league history to win Finals MVP in his very first conference after carrying TNT past Magnolia in the finals.
The 6-2 guard posted a 52.9 TS% after shooting 41 percent from the field, hitting 37.6 percent of his staggering 9.2 attempts from deep, and making 73 percent of his free throws while playing 36.3 minutes over 36 games.
Thompson and Williams naturally led this season's First Mythical Team, where they were joined by Abueva, NorthPort's Arwind Santos, and San Miguel Beermen's June Mar Fajardo.
Abueva logged 14.5 points on 54.1 TS%, 8.8 rebounds (fourth), 2.3 assists, and 1.0 steals in 34 games for the Hotshots, who posted the league's best net rating but only managed one finals appearance and one in the semifinals during the two-conference season.
Fajardo, who played in all 32 games for the Beermen, still earned the distinction of being the league's best center after tallying 13.8 points on 59.7 TS%, a league-high 11.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 blocks (fifth) in just under 32 minutes.
Meanwhile, Santos earned both a spot in the First Mythical Team and a place in the All-Defensive Team after recording a league-high 1.5 blocks per game and helping anchor a Batang Pier defense that posted the fifth-best defensive rating (101.7 DRTG) last season.
Joining him in the All-Defensive Team were San Miguel's Chris Ross, Magnolia's Jio Jallaon, TNT's Kelly Williams, and Meralco Bolts' Cliff Hodge.
Ross led the league in steals (2.0) and rated out as the third-most impactful defender in the Defensive Box Plus-Minus (DBPM), per Stats by Ryan on Tiebreaker Times, though San Miguel only ranked 8th in defensive efficiency (103.5 DRTG) last season.
Jalalon (1.2 steals in just 23.3 minutes) ranked 25th in the same category under the same cutoff, but the Hotshots fared much better on that end of the floor and finished the year with the third-best defense (99.4 DRTG).
The 40-year-old Williams, who was the only big man in the top 20 of steals (1.1, 17th), rated fifth in DBPM as the backbone of a TNT frontline that helped the team record the PBA's best defense (97.8 DRTG) last year.
Hodge narrowly missed the DBPM's top 20 but was an integral piece for a Meralco team that had the 6th-best defense (102.5 DRTG).
Elsewhere, NorthPort's Bolick and San Miguel's CJ Perez headlined the Second Mythical Team that was also composed of Phoenix's Matthew Wright, Magnolia's Ian Sangalang, and Ginebra's Christian Standhardinger.
NLEX Road Warriors' Kevin Alas was also given the Sportsmanship Award, while Juami Tiongson was feted by the league the Most Improved Player award after a strong season that saw him shoulder more offensive responsibilities for Terrafirma Dyip. Tiongson, 31, put up 16.4 points on 54.0 TS%, 3.3 assists, and 2.7 boards in 33 minutes and 21 games for the Dyip.