SEVEN footers have become the norm in the newly opened PBA Commissioner’s Cup and yet one name remains to be the byword as far as imports are concerned and it wouldn’t be surprising why he remains to be the yardstick among PBA reinforcements.
Six-time PBA champion Justin Brownlee, easily one of the most beloved imports to shore up the PBA and play for the league’s most popular team, Barangay Ginebra, is definitely the barometer among imports, TNT team manager Jojo Lastimosa said.
“Brownlee is the yardstick,” Lastimosa told The Manila Times.
“Other than the size of Bol Bol and the things he does in practice, which were very encouraging, the question is how do you translate that to the game.”
Bol is the son of former NBA player Manute Bol, once regarded as the tallest player in the league at 7-foot- 7.
The younger Bol obviously did not just get his genes from his father, but the second generation cager has the potential to even surpass his father’s professional playing career.
Like Manute, Bol’s 7-foot-3 size complements an inside and out game and his experience playing for three NBA teams — the Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns — easily installed him as the most high-profile import in the Commissioner’s Cup.
But Lastimosa has a better reason in choosing Brownlee as the barometer, much like the other great imports who played here before like his long-time teammate and good friend Sean Chambers, the late great, seven-time Best Import awardee Bobby Parks and Mr. 100% Performance Awardee Norman Black.
On top of winning six championships in the PBA while serving as the resident reinforcement of Barangay Ginebra, Brownlee had also won the Best Import award twice.
And the player who became even more endeared to fans when he embraced the name Justin Noypi while serving as a naturalized player of Gilas Pilipinas and leading the team in ending the Philippines’ six-decade long drought of winning the Asian Games gold medal, had proven himself to be capable of competing against imports who are bigger, equally talented and more athletic than him.
Twice before, Brownlee was able to carry Barangay Ginebra all the way to the championship in tournaments that showcased bigger reinforcements.
In the 2017-2018 Commissioner’s Cup, he helped the Gin Kings in winning the tournament against the mighty San Miguel Beermen and achieved a similar feat when he propelled his squad to an epic triumph against the visiting Bay Area Dragons in the 2022-2023 Commissioner’s Cup.
Brownlee had found ways on how he can negate the size disadvantage with his all-around skill set.
If there’s something that somehow prepared Brownlee in competing against bigger opponents, it’s his continuous involvement of representing not just Gilas Pilipinas in major international competitions, but also the Meralco Bolts in the East Asia Super League where the competition is more stiff, more challenging and more exciting.
Brownlee is pushing 38 next month and he’s definitely no spring chicken. He and Japeth Aguilar, Ginebra’s main man up front, are the oldest players in the lineup.
Aguilar is already 39 years old and with Ginebra’s current set up right now, it seems that the team needs to replenish its front court with more dependable players.
The Gin Kings even opted to trade for Kemark Carino, a 6-foot-8 former Gilas Pilipinas player, who spent the first few seasons of his pro career as a role player.
Is the decision to hold on to Brownlee had something to do with nostalgia, considering that the Gin Kings need a bigger import more than anything else?
Tim Cone, the winningest coach in PBA history, dismissed such claims and believes tapping Brownlee is the best way to go for Barangay Ginebra.
“This has nothing to do about being sentimental. Justin has always played well in the 'big' import conferences. We won championships and been to numerous final appearances, so we're confident. We'll just have to play differently from everyone else,” added Cone.
