There’s no place like home, and that’s exactly why Justin Brownlee couldn’t be any happier to be back with Ginebra after being away for a long while.
The six-time league champion played his first game back with the Kings after nearly a year when they opened their PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup campaign with an eventual rout of guest team Macau on Friday night.
“Man, I felt good, to be honest,” he said moments after their 110-93 victory witnessed by a solid crowd at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. “We’ve been going hard in practice, you know, obviously, the chemistry is there from the years.”
The last time he graced a PBA court, if ever you’re wondering, was in Game 7 of the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup Finals back on March 28 of last year.
That title series was against a corporate rival on TNT and went down to be a classic, with ‘JB’ knocking down a booming three all over the defense of Paul Varilla to tie things up at 79-all and eventually force overtime.
He went on to finish with 28 points and 10 rebounds, but the crowd darlings ultimately fell short, 87-83, as the Tropang 5G secured the crown.
But of course, Brownlee and the Barangay have moved on from that and are ready for a fresh chapter together, and that was pretty evident with their dominant showing that dragged the Black Knights down to 0-3.
(C) PBA Images
The 37-year-old starred in the triumph with numbers across the board, as he finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks.
And all that, he said, was all thanks to the kind of familiarity he has with his brothers-in-arms, even though they didn’t play together for a long while after the PBA held the Philippine Cup for two consecutive conferences.
“I’m just happy we got the win. We knew Macau was gonna come in and be tough; we just wanted to come in and be aggressive. Happy we got the win.”
Now, he’s setting his sights on another tour of duty ahead with Ginebra, bracing as well for the tough challenges ahead to be provided by much bigger imports headlined by the towering Bol Bol of defending champs TNT.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of great imports, even Bol Bol earlier, he’s impressive,” he said as Bol had 38 and 16, albeit in a loss to Rain or Shine earlier in the night–a game marred by a fight between Jaylen Johnson and Glenn Khobuntin.
“And the height, you know, is definitely something that we haven’t seen in the PBA in the recent past. I’m not sure if a guy that tall has been in the PBA. I think it was one guy, he’s Puerto Rican,” he added as he recalled PJ Ramos.
“I think it’s good to see. Of course the fans, you could see the way they react towards him and I think it’s great for the PBA.”
#WATCH: WE GOT THIS WIN FOR JAYSON 🏀
Justin Brownlee says seeing Jayson David stretchered out was a heartbreaker in his #PBA50 return#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/DCKYRj6RRs
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA50 pic.twitter.com/R77dPdHb8H
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) March 20, 2026
