Justin Brownlee really is a winner.
The versatile import just helped the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel grab the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup title by dethroning the San Miguel Beermen, 93-77, in Game Six of the Finals, Wednesday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The 6-foot-5 forward was all over the place, powering the Gin Kings with 31 points – 20 in the second half – on a commendable 50 percent-shooting clip on top of 19 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks, and two steals.
Brownlee, who started his PBA career back in 2016, now has three championships to boast of. And the native of Tifton, Georgia can also proudly share to anybody that he’s now gone a perfect three-of-three in the Finals.
“It’s a blessing to be able just compete in the Finals, to be able to just compete in this league, definitely a blessing to me,” said Brownlee, the newly-minted Best Import. “I’m just very happy, ecstatic, and I’m just gonna keep working hard.
“Hopefully I just continue to have success here in the Philippines.”
This particular championship might actually be one of the sweetest that Ginebra have won – nobody had thought they would go all the way to the Big Dance, knowing that they had gone 1-5 early in the conference.
“Man, it was definitely hard to see this,” Brownlee reflected. “But I kept saying, the team you know, the morale of the team, everybody was staying positive, everybody was still came to work every day very hard.
“And everybody still sustained their confidence even though we were 1-5. It felt like, I can just remember going to practice and the confidence of the team, it felt like we were 5-0. I feel that’s a big thing we had this conference,” he added.
“Everybody just stayed positive and just kept working hard even though we were down.”
There’s no denying that Brownlee was at the center of the Gin Kings’ epic turnaround – head coach Tim Cone knows that. Given that, Brownlee is now considered as one of the best imports to play for the Barangay.
But Brownlee doesn’t want to think of himself that way.
“Man, that’s a great compliment, I definitely love the compliment. You know I don’t like to think of myself like that,” he said. ‘I just want to keep doing good, and just keep working hard, and whatever comes with that, you know I’ll take it.”
After the celebration, Brownlee and Ginebra will now set their sights on the season-ending Governors’ Cup, where they are the reigning two-time champions. And the target on the 30-year-old’s back has now gotten bigger.
However, it is the least of his concerns, as he claims he’s only focused on helping the Barangay be as successful as they can.
“I see some of the imports coming in for the Governors’ Cup, and very talented, a lot of really good imports. I’m sure it’s gonna be very tough. And if there’s a target on my back, that is what it is, that’s something I’m not gonna worry about,” said Brownlee.
“I’m just focused on getting better every day and just trying to help the team win.”
