Waiting for Ginebra return, Brownlee looking at overseas offers

MANILA, Philippines – Expect Justin Brownlee to reunite with Barangay Ginebra, but as he still waits for his next tour of duty in the PBA, chances are he will play elsewhere for the meantime.

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone said Brownlee has received offers from overseas teams as the beloved naturalized player ponders his next career move after he and the Nationals swept the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

It will take months before Brownlee sets foot in the PBA again, with the league staging the Philippine Cup next starting on February 28.

“There are offers to go play overseas since it is All-Filipino. We’re perfectly fine with that,” said Cone on Sunday, February 25, after the Philippines’ 106-53 rout of visiting Chinese Taipei.

“We’re all for him going out, staying in shape.”

Going overseas should be an ideal move for Brownlee as he looks to regain his old form after being away from competitive action for four months – a result of failing a doping test in the Asian Games in October.

Brownlee is no stranger to playing in other foreign leagues in between his Ginebra stints as he suited up for Lebanese club Al Riyadi in 2019 and UAE’s Al Sharjah in 2021.

Not only would Brownlee be in tiptop shape once the PBA holds another import-flavored conference, he would also be in deadlier form for the Riga, Latvia leg of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in July.

Fearsome foes await in the OQT, with Brownlee and world No. 38 Philippines set to battle No. 8 Latvia and No. 23 Georgia.

“He will definitely be back for us at Ginebra in the next conference, after the All-Filipino. He is already locked in for that. So we’ll see him here,” said Cone.

“But in the meantime, he is looking at offers and he’ll probably end up playing somewhere for a while.”

Despite seeing his career temporarily derailed for one-third of a year, Brownlee looked like he hardly lost a step as he steered the Philippines to a pair of blowout wins in the first window of the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Brownlee delivered 26 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks against Chinese Taipei – an impressive follow-up performance to his 16-point, 7-rebound, 7-assists, 3-steal effort in a 94-64 romp of Hong Kong.

No wonder teams are calling. – Rappler.com