There’s no place like home, which is why Justin Brownlee couldn’t feel happier to be back with Ginebra after his stints away from the team.
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 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 in TNT Tropang 5G.
It went down as a classic, with ‘JB’ knocking down a booming three 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. They are ready for a fresh chapter together, and that was 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, finishing with 31 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks.
And all that, he said, was all thanks to his familiarity 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 for the tough challenges ahead 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
