Abet Guidaben will forever be attached to long-time rival Ramon Fernandez.

Not only were these two premier centers the starting frontcourt men for their respective teams – Crispa and Toyota – but they’ve been involved in some controversial moments.

Twice in their career, they would trade places; the first in the 1985 Third Conference and the second in the season-ending 1988 Third Conference.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Guidaben as it deprived him of an opportunity to win the third Most Valuable Player award that would have allowed him to catch up with his nemesis. But instead, it was Fernandez who benefited more during second one-on-one swap.

“At that time, Abet was supposed to win another MVP that year in 1988, kaya lalong nagalit si Abet sa akin,” said Fernandez.

A 16-time PBA champion, who became a member of Crispa’s two grand slam teams, Guidaben would have been the only player to win three triple crowns had he stayed on with the Beermen, who won the hat-trick in 1989.

Although he didn’t win another MVP after claiming his second plum in 1987 and didn’t catch Fernandez’s record for most championships as well, on this day, June 27, 1993, Guidaben joined Fernandez in the 15,000-points club when their two teams – 7-Up and San Miguel Beer – met during the early stage of the Commissioner’s Cup elimination round.

During the 1993 season, Guidaben was still in his competitive form.

Just a few months earlier, he played as the starting center of the Uncolas during their only championship run in the 1992 Third Conference but the team lost to Tony Harris and the rest of the Swift Mighty Meaties Hotdogs in four straight games, one of the rare sweeps that happened in PBA championship history.

As the Uncolas’ starting center and at age 41, Guidaben still averages 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

He spent the next three seasons of his career playing for Shell.

Throughout his career, he averaged 14.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game while hitting 53.1-percent from the field.

A member of the 25 Greatest Players list, Guidaben was enshrined to the PBA Hall of Fame in 2007 and retired as the only other player aside from Fernandez to play more than 1,000 games. He has played the most number of games ever with 1,081 games in 21 seasons in the PBA and second in all-time scoring list (15,775).

FROM THE ARCHIVES

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