Ginebra’s celebrated duo had done it again as Scottie Thompson and Justin Brownlee swept the top individual awards of the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The reigning league MVP won his second Best Player of the Conference honors while the soon-to-be Filipino nabbed his third Best Import title in the coronation held prior to Game Four of the Finals between the Kings and Bay Area.
It is now the second time in the last three conferences that the star tandem did a double, accomplishing it first in the 2021 Governors’ Cup.
Thompson won the plum via landslide just like the first time he won it, accumulating a total of 917 votes from stats, the media, and the players.
The pride of Davao del Sur bested teammate Jamie Malonzo (673), NorthPort star Robert Bolick (558), CJ Perez of San Miguel (452), and NLEX’s Don Trollano (417) for the award previously won by TNT main man Jayson Castro.
Thompson had 33.9 SPs after the semis, rising to no. 2 in the BPC race thanks to his solid performances during the playoffs that ultimately helped the crowd darlings book their fourth Finals trip in the last six conferences.
Brownlee, on the other hand, earned his second Commissioner’s Cup Best Import award, winning his first in 2018 where he became the smallest import (6’4″ 5/8) to bag home the mid-season joust’s award for reinforcements.
The 34-year-old winning the crown appeared imminent when he rose to the top of the Best Import race with 52.7 SPs after the semis.
He was previously at third behind Earl Clark of the Road Warriors and Converge’s Quincy Miller but the Kings going deep in the playoffs plus his strong showings enabled the resident Barangay import to snatch pole position.
Aiming to win his sixth championship, Brownlee won the crown in lopsided fashion just like his teammate as he garnered a total of 1,289 votes.
Rakocevic, whose team bowed to Ginebra in the semis, placed second with 940 votes. Scott, on the other hand, placed third with 788.
Brownlee has become only the third import in PBA history to win at least three Best Import awards after Bobby Parks (7) and Allen Durham (3), according to league stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
