The warning sign and Fajardo’s huge workload prior to his injury
AS stunning as the June Mar Fajardo was, it wasn’t as if there were no warning signs.
Considering the work that Fajardo had to put in for the past year while shuffling between San Miguel and Gilas Pilipinas duty, it wasn’t a total surprise that even his massive, 6-foot-10 frame soon gave in.
That happened on Monday, when the gentle Cebuano giant fell to the floor in one heap clutching his right foot during practice. The complete fracture on his right tibia ruled him out of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup and possibly, the whole season.
But if we looked back a couple of years, we’ll realize that Fajardo had already dealt with the same injury before. Back in 2018, it was an injury to the same shin that kept him out of the second window of the 2019 Fiba World Cup qualifiers.
That stress fracture injury, which necessitated six to eight weeks of recovery, kept the San Miguel center from suiting up for Gilas in that September series of games against Iran and Qatar.
It also forced him to miss a chunk of the Beermen’s games in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup. He was able to return to action in October and eventually bagged his fifth straight PBA MVP award.
The injury wasn’t heard from again, until Monday.
Curiously, the past season saw Fajardo avoid any injuries and become the only player to suit up in all the Beermen’s 61 games, one that saw them come close from the second grand slam in franchise history.
That wasn’t all.
He also played for Gilas in the sixth window of the qualifiers in February, where road wins over Qatar and Kazakhstan sealed its place in the 2019 Fiba World Cup, where the Philippines lost all of its five games. He played in all those five games as well.
No wonder SMB teammate Alex Cabagnot urged the well-liked big man to ‘go fishing’ and take all the time he needed to recharge and recover in the offseason.
“I told June Mar, ‘Go fishing! Go spend time with your family.’ He had been playing the whole year — playoffs, Gilas, everything — so he really could have used some rest,” said the Beermen’s veteran guard.
But there was Fajardo already hard at work in the gym even before the holdovers were called back to San Miguel practice, Cabagnot revealed.
“He was so eager to get back to work that he was even working out with the rookies and some players in the tryouts,” said Cabagnot.
“Imagine, a five-time MVP, multi-titled player, awarded one of the 50 Greatest Filipino Athletes just a while back. He didn’t need to be there, but he was the first guy working out with those guys.”
“I was still on a break but he said we had to get that sixth All-Filipino title. So I said, ‘If you’re working, then I’ll be working too.’ Mahihiya ka rin eh, kasi si June Mar na ‘yon.”
Now, it is that same work ethic that will be the key once Fajardo gets on the road to recovery from the worst injury he has suffered in his career. – With reports from Kate Reyes
