MIKEY Williams may have lost in his bid for the PBA Philippine Cup Best Player of the Conference award, but there was no doubt the rookie guard owned the finals series between the TnT Tropang Giga and the Magnolia Hotshots.
The 30-year-old Williams emerged as the unanimous choice as the Honda-PBA Press Corps Finals MVP after steering the Tropang Giga to the all-Filipino championship on Friday night to end the TnT franchise's six-year title drought.
The Fil-American is the first player in league history to win Finals MVP right in his debut tournament - and only the third rookie to win the honor after former San Miguel star Danny Seigle in 1999 and Alaska's Brandon Cablay in 2003.
He averaged 27.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in the five-game series.
The MVP plum in the title series comes as a major consolation for Williams, who lost out to Calvin Abueva in a close race for the BPC award.
"I feel like this is a surreal moment for all of us. We definitely put the work in, we definitely put the time. It's been a long season and it's been challenging for everybody," he said following the Tropang Giga's closeout 94-79 win in Game 5.
'I think we're just really all blessed to be at this moment. And I think we're just going to enjoy it,"
Williams finished with a game-high 24 points, four rebounds, and four assists to cap a consistent series performance that saw him register a PBA Finals-record 10 three pointers in Game 3 of the title playoffs.
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