THE basketball statistic “assists” is usually dominated by point guards or maybe forwards with outstanding passing skills.
That’s why it is rare for a center – designed by most teams to do work off the glass or act as their rim protector – to pace a professional league in that department for an entire season.
Since the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) first saw the light of day in April 1975, there has been only a pair of instances where a homegrown center topped the local pro league in assists during a season.
“El Presidente” Ramon Fernandez turned in the trick twice – first with the Toyota Tamaraws in 1982 with 346 assists in 67 games for a 5.2 average then with Beer Hausen two years later with 635 dimes in 64 games for a 9.9 clip. (Imports were not included in that equation.)
On an individual basis, the 1984 season with the Beer Hausen Brewmasters was the greatest single-season performance not only for the 6-foot-4.5 Fernandez but also for a homegrown player in PBA history.
The gangling and graceful Maasin, Leyte native averaged 27.8 points (fifth in the league), 9.9 assists, 11.2 rebounds (fourth), 1.53 steals (third) and 2.09 blocked shots in playing 64 of his clubs’ 66 assignments (35-31 win-loss record) and norming 40.8 minutes that year. He registered shooting percentages of .525 (704-for-1340) from the field and .808 (371-for-459) from the free-throw line.
At 635, Fernandez fell five assists short of a never-been-done-until-now triple-double average. Overall, he notched 25 triple-double games – which to date remains the league’s all-time season mark in that category, local or otherwise.
That season (1984), Fernandez romped away with the second of his league record-tying four Most Valuable Player hardware that Alvin Patrimonio and June Mar Fajardo (2014-17 consecutively and still counting) have since duplicated.
Fernandez, though, is the lone four-time MVP to win the award with four different franchises (Toyota, Beer Hausen, Tanduay and San Miguel Beer/Purefoods).
Fernandez played 20 PBA seasons (1975-94) a won 19 conference championships, the most in league history.
The 64-year-old Fernandez has been a Philippine Sports Commission commissioner since late 2016 under the Duterte administration.
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On March 20, 1968, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers became the first and only center in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to lead the league in total assists.
The 7-foot-1 Chamberlain dished out a league-high 702 assists in 82 games. His 8.6 average, however, was only second to Oscar Robertson of the Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings), who normed a league-leading 9.7 apg in 65 games but totaled only 633.
Before the 1969-70 season, the NBA based its assists leadership on total count and not on averages.
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