The newer generation of PBA fans may have little knowledge of some of the 10 names that were recently included in the 50 Greatest Players list, but the selection committee was sure that it named those who deserve the honor in more ways than one.

“Kailan pa sila masasama kung hindi ngayon? (If not now, when can they get the recognition?)” Crispa great Atoy Co, named to the first list of 25 Greatest and a member of the committee, asked after the announcement was made in a televised event on Wednesday night.

While Nelson Asaytono, Danny Seigle, Jeffrey Cariaso and Bong Hawkins from the ’90s to the 2000s and current stars June Mar Fajardo and Scottie Thompson were the familiar figures announced, the rest were included due to their important contributions to the league’s earlier years.

Two players from Co and Crispa’s fierce rivals, Abe King and the late Arnie Tuadles of Toyota, got the nod, as both, like Asaytono, finally got their due recognitions after they were also the biggest snubs from the 40 Greatest list crafted in 2015.

“I don’t think [their inclusions] can be questioned,” legendary Toyota coach Dante Silverio, a part of the committee, said. “The addition of Abe and Tuadles is [a long time] coming and they truly deserve it.”

Manny Victorino and Yoyoy Villamin, great big men from the ’80s who played under the shadows of Ramon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben, were also selected to the elite company and were generally received.

“They were so good that the PBA itself made a rule that Fernandez, Guidaben, Victorino and, later on, Villamin could not play on the same team. Imagine, if the two of them (Victorino and Villamin) became teammates, they would have won more championships,” three-point extraordinaire Allan Caidic, also part of the committee, said.

Of course, any list won’t be without questions, particularly the decision to include Thompson. The committee kept the rule of adding past MVPs as automatic inclusions, which was what netizens countered in the case of those arguing against Thompson, winner of the award in 2022.

Eight-time MVP Fajardo was a no-brainer.

“We adopted the same [practice] from the previous committees (25 Greatest and 40 Greatest), which left us with only eight players to pick,” said former commissioner Sonny Barrios, who chaired the committee.

Some fans mentioned Olsen Racela, Ranidel de Ocampo and LA Tenorio as this batch’s major snubs.

But the overall perception was that the committee did well because of little surprises the naming brought, unlike the 40 Greatest announcement that took a lot of flak for having what many perceived were iffy inclusions and left-offs.