“Siyempre masaya, first time ko ito manalo ng Best Player after six years ko sa PBA,” James Yap said. “Sobrang blessed ako, dahil na din sa tulong ng mga teammates ko, coaches and also the management.”

Purefoods ace gunner James Yap won his MVP award five years ago but it was only in this conference that he bagged his first-ever Best Player of the Conference (BPC) – a testament to his status as one of the league’s certified stars.

Interestingly, Yap beat two-time MVP winner and Alaska’s top gunner Willie Miller for the BPC award of the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup during the awarding ceremony last night at the Araneta Coliseum.

The 28-year-old Yap, now in his sixth season in the pro league, actually finished only eighth after the semifinals stage with 27.6 statistical points, an improvement from 12th place at the end of classification phase.

“Siyempre masaya, first time ko ito manalo ng Best Player after six years ko sa PBA,” Yap said. “Sobrang blessed ako, dahil na din sa tulong ng mga teammates ko, coaches and also the management.”

Yap, no doubt one of the most popular players in the PBA today, also credited the support of his family, as well as the family of actress wife Kris Aquino, particularly the late President Cory Aquino, who he mentioned as his “No. 1 supporter”.

After norming only 15.8 points in the eliminations, Yap managed to raise his game in the quarterfinals that saw him average 21.4 points per contest as Purefoods eliminated Rain or Shine in a grueling five-game series.

After winning the BPC award, Yap has become a strong candidate for this year’s MVP award.

In the semifinals, he tormented San Miguel Beer by averaging 16.3 points per game as the Giants booted out the Beermen to clinch their 22nd Finals stint, 14th in an all-Filipino conference.

In Game 1 of the finals which the Giants won, 81-77, Yap scored 24 points with four rebounds then followed it up with a 32-point explosion, including 12 in the fourth quarter, in an 86-85 victory in Game 2.

In Game 3, he again led the Giants in scoring with 14 as they edged the Aces, 79-78, to move a win away from clinching the title.

Miller, a former two-time MVP and the reigning BPC (Philippine Cup), finished second in the voting, which ended last Monday conducted by the PBA Press Corps, TV carrier Solar Sports Entertainment, the PBA Commissioner’s Office, the players and coaches.

Others in the Top 10 were San Miguel Beer’s Arwind Santos, Alaska teammates Joe Devance and LA Tenorio, Talk ’N Text’s Mark Cardona and Harvey Carey, Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood, and Ginebra’s Ronald Tubid.