PBA Real Talk: San Miguel legend THE KRAKEN is becoming HUMAN?

For more than a decade, the eight-time PBA Most Valuable Player has been an immovable force in Philippine basketball. He was the sun that the entire league revolved around. If you were playing the San Miguel Beermen, your entire game plan began and ended with one simple, terrifying dilemma: How on earth do we stop the Kraken?

You doubled him, he passed out to open shooters. You played him single coverage, he casually backed your center into the padded stanchion and dropped in a soft hook shot. He made dominance look so routine, so quiet, that we almost took it for granted.

Then you look at the box scores from this ongoing Governors' Cup, and you have to rub your eyes.

Through 9 games, Fajardo is averaging 9.0 points, shooting 55% from the field, pulling down 10.7 rebounds, and dishing out 3.2 assists in 30.6 minutes per night.

Now, don't get me wrong. For about 80 percent of the big men in the PBA, a stat line of 9 points and nearly 11 rebounds a night is a respectable, honest living. It keeps you in the starting lineup.

But this isn't just any big man. This is June Mar Fajardo.

We are talking about a player who averaged 18.1 points and 17.0 rebounds in the Philippine Cup just earlier this season, and followed it up with 16.5 points and 14.5 rebounds in the Commissioner's Cup. Seeing his scoring production suddenly cut in half feels almost surreal.

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So, what is happening here?

Father Time, as it turns out, remains undefeated.

Fajardo turns 37 next month. At 6-foot-10 and nearly 270 pounds, he has spent over 12 seasons taking an absolute beating down in the low post. He has carried San Miguel to multiple championships, anchored Gilas Pilipinas in grueling international tournaments, and played through countless nicks, bruises, and major leg injuries.

At 36, the body simply doesn't bounce back the same way. The first step gets a split-second slower. Getting off the floor for secondary rebounds takes just a bit more effort. Heavy minutes in a fast-paced Governors' Cup—a conference dominated by dynamic foreign imports and relentless transition play—start to catch up with a giant. Regression at this stage of a career isn't a flaw; it is basic human biology.

Fajardo isn't washed up—his passing, screen-setting, and sheer physical presence still carry immense value for San Miguel—but the days of him effortlessly dropping a 20-20 line on a Tuesday night in Antipolo appear to be behind us.

Which brings us to the biggest, most fascinating question facing the PBA right now: Who is ready to take his spot at the top of the food chain?

For years, the crown belonged exclusively to the Kraken. But as his numbers begin to settle into a more human territory, the throne is officially open.

Is it a dominant import-slayer like Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser? Is it a young, towering prospect like Geo Chiu, if given the right developmental keys? Or are we heading into an era where a guard or a versatile wing takes over as the undisputed king of the league?

June Mar Fajardo gave Philippine basketball one of the most dominant individual runs in sports history. But as Father Time quietly taps the big guy on the shoulder, the rest of the league is finally getting a view of the summit—and the race to get there is about to get very interesting.

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