June Mar Fajardo

June Mar Fajardo

Fajardo with the San Miguel Beermen in 2015
No. 15 – San Miguel Beermen
Position	Center
League	PBA
Personal information
Born	(1989-11-17) November 17, 1989 (age 34) Compostela, Cebu, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	268 lb (122 kg)
Career information
High school	Pinamungajan National High School (Pinamungajan, Cebu)
College	UC (2007–2011)
PBA draft	2012: 1st round, 1st overall
Selected by the Petron Blaze Boosters
Playing career	2011–present
Career history
2011–2012	San Miguel Beermen (ABL)
2012–present	Petron Blaze Boosters / San Miguel Beermen
Career highlights and awards
10× PBA champion (2014–15 Philippine, 2015 Governors', 2015–16 Philippine, 2016–17 Philippine, 2017 Commissioner's, 2017–18 Philippine, 2019 Philippine, 2019 Commissioner's, 2022 Philippine, 2023–24 Commissioner's) 4× PBA Finals MVP (2015 Governors', 2017–18 Philippine, 2019 Philippine, 2022 Philippine) 8× PBA Most Valuable Player (2014–2019, 2023, 2024) 11× PBA Best Player of the Conference (2013–14 Philippine, 2014–15 Philippine, 2015 Governors', 2015–16 Philippine, 2016–17 Philippine, 2017–18 Philippine, 2018 Commissioner's, 2019 Philippine, 2022 Philippine, 2024 Philippine, 2024 Governors') 9× PBA All-Star (2013–2019, 2023, 2024) 9× PBA Mythical First Team (2014–2019, 2021, 2023, 2024) PBA Mythical Second Team (2013) PBA Defensive Player of the Year (2015) 7× PBA All-Defensive Team (2014, 2015, 2017–2019, 2023, 2024) PBA All-Rookie Team (2013) PBA Comeback Player of the Year (2021) 3× PBA Order of Merit (2018, 2019, 2024) 2× PBA Sportsmanship award (2015, 2016) PBA Most Improved Player (2014) National Collegiate Player of the Year (2010) 2× CESAFI champion (2010–2011) 3× CESAFI MVP (2009–2011) 3× CESAFI Mythical team member (2009–2011) 4× PSA awardee for Professional Basketball (2014–2017)
Medals Men's basketball Representing  Philippines FIBA Asia Championship 2013 Manila team Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou Team FIBA Asia Cup 2014 Wuhan Team SEABA Championship 2017 Quezon City Team Southeast Asian Games 2019 Philippines Team 2021 Hanoi Team

June Mar Sotto Fajardo (Tagalog: [pɐˈhaɾdo]; born November 17, 1989) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He is also known by his nickname "The Kraken" for his extraordinary size and finesse against opposing big men.^[1]

Born in Compostela, he transferred with his parents to Pinamungajan at an early age, where he spent most of his younger and teen years. He played center for the University of Cebu Webmasters in the CESAFI and for the San Miguel Beermen in the ASEAN Basketball League before being selected as the first overall in the 2012 PBA draft by Petron Blaze Boosters. Despite his young age, Fajardo showed great potential and has been dubbed by local sports analysts as the Future of Philippine basketball. During his rookie season, he played for the national team and earned a silver medal at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Gilas Pilipinas. In his first year in the PBA, he was selected to the All-Rookie Team and Second Mythical Team. Since then, he became the first person in league history to win the PBA Most Valuable Player award in six consecutive seasons, which he won from 2014 to 2019. After suffering a career-threatening injury in 2020, he won back-to-back MVPs in 2023 and 2024 to extend his record for the most PBA MVP awards with eight.

He is a perennial member of Gilas Pilipinas in international competitions since 2013 and was also part of the team who won the gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games.