TNT Tropang GIGA upstaged Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to win their third title in eight conferences.
More than that, with Meralco’s Philippine Cup last season, this is the first time in more than a decade that an SMC team failed to win a championship for two consecutive conferences. The last time non-SMC teams won two consecutive titles was when the Rain or Shine Elastopainters won the 2012 Governors’ Cup, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters claimed the 2012-13 Philippine Cup, and the Alaska Aces won the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup.
With the win, TNT was hellbent on bringing back Governors’ Cup Best Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for the Commissioner’s Cup.
Ginebra, fixated on revenge, is expected to get the best possible reinforcement to forward to their goal.
And who do they have in their mind?
Justin F’N Brownlee.
In some ways, it’s inevitable. After all, RHJ has a 67 percent success rate in both championships and Best Import awards while Brownlee is arguably one of the greatest imports in league history. George King, Blackwater’s scoring machine, is also back for the Commissioner’s Cup.
NLEX will tap former NBA player and North Carolina Tar Heel Ed Davis as their import with Converge taking former NBA player Cheick Diallo to their squad. Meanwhile, Magnolia is returning naturalized Korean and former FIBA World Cup top scorer Ricardo “Ra Gu-nah” Ratliffe to their roster. Quincy Miller, another balik import, will play for the San Miguel Beermen until another returnee Bennie Boatwright returns.
Donovan Smith will represent the Phoenix Fuel Masters, Ryan Richards will don the Terrafirma Dyip colors, and guest team Hong Kong Eastern is going with former San Miguel hired gun Cameron Clark. Northport will parade Lennox Lewis’ 6’11 "cousin Kavell Bigby-Williams. While the Meralco Bolts would have brought recently retired Allen Durham back to their fold if he wanted to, they are going to settle with former Virginia Cavalier Akil Mitchell. Rain or Shine will allegedly go with Aaron Epps, although they have to make this official as of this writing.
Epps and Bigby-Williams also played college ball at LSU - the same school that produced the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Pete Maravich,
So this is what we have at the moment.
TNT TROPANG GIGA | RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1995
COLLEGE | ARIZONA WILDCATS
NBA DRAFT | 2015 | RD 1 - PICK 23 | PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
NBA TEAMS | BROOKLYN NETS, TORONTO RAPTORS, PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
NBA AVERAGES | 9.0PPG - 5.5RPG - 1.9APG - 305 REGULAR SEASON GAMES
PBA EXPERIENCE | TNT TROPANG GIGA
2-TIME PBA BEST IMPORT - 2023 GOVCUP, 2024 GOVCUP
2-TIME PBA CHAMPION - 2023 GOVCUP, 2024 GOVCUP
BARANGAY GINEBRA SAN MIGUEL | JUSTIN BROWNLEE
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1988
COLLEGE | ST. JOHN'S RED STORM
NBA DRAFT | 2011 | UNDRAFTED
NBA AVERAGES | NO NBA EXPERIENCE
PBA EXPERIENCE | BARANGAY GINEBRA SAN MIGUEL
3-TIME PBA BEST IMPORT - 2018 COMCUP, 2021 GOVCUP, 2022-23 COMCUP
6-TIME PBA CHAMPION - 2016 GOVCUP, 2017 GOVCUP, 2018 COMCUP, 2019 GOVCUP, 2021 GOVCUP, 2022-23 COMCUP
BLACKWATER BOSSING | GEORGE KING
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1994
COLLEGE | COLORADO BUFFALOES
NBA DRAFT | 2018 | RD 2 - PICK 59 | PHOENIX SUNS
NBA TEAMS | PHOENIX SUNS, DALLAS MAVERICKS
NBA AVERAGES | 0.2PPG - 1.2RPG - 0.0APG - 5 REGULAR SEASON GAMES
PBA EXPERIENCE |
BLACKWATER BOSSING - 2024 PBA GOVERNORS' CUP
MAGNOLIA HOTSHOTS | RICARDO RATLIFFE (KOREAN NAME: RA GUN-AH)
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1989
COLLEGE | MISSOURI TIGERS
FIBA | KOREAN NATIONAL TEAM
NBA DRAFT | 2012 | UNDRAFTED
NBA AVERAGES | NO NBA EXPERIENCE
PBA EXPERIENCE |
STAR HOTSHOTS - 2016 PBA COMMISSIONER'S CUP
STAR HOTSHOTS - 2017 PBA COMMISSIONER'S CUP
SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN | QUINCY MILLER
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1992
COLLEGE | BAYLOR BEARS
NBA DRAFT | 2012 | RD 2 - PICK 38 | DENVER NUGGETS
NBA TEAMS | PHOENIX SUNS, SACRAMENTO KINGS, DETROIT PISTONS
NBA AVERAGES | 5.3PPG - 2.4RPG - 0.5APG - 69 REGULAR SEASON GAMES
PBA EXPERIENCE |
CONVERGE FIBERXERS - 2022-23 PBA COMMISSIONER'S CUP
TNT TROPANG GIGA - 2023-24 PBA COMMISSIONER'S CUP
NLEX ROAD WARRIORS | ED DAVIS
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1989
COLLEGE | NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS
NBA DRAFT | 2010 | RD 1 - PICK 13 | TORONTO RAPTORS
NBA TEAMS | TORONTO RAPTORS, MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS, PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS, BROOKLYN NETS, UTAH JAZZ, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
NBA AVERAGES | 5.9PPG - 6.4RPG - 0.7APG - 722 REGULAR SEASON GAMES
PBA EXPERIENCE |
NONE
CONVERGE FIBERXERS | CHEICK DIALLO
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1996
COLLEGE | KANSAS JAYHAWKS
NBA DRAFT | 2016 | RD 2 - PICK 33 | LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
NBA TEAMS | NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, PHOENIX SUNS, DETROIT PISTONS
NBA AVERAGES | 5.2PPG - 4.1RPG - 0.4APG - 183 REGULAR SEASON GAMES
PBA EXPERIENCE |
NONE
TERRAFIRMA DYIP | RYAN RICHARDS
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1991
FIBA | GREAT BRITAIN NATIONAL TEAM
NBA DRAFT | 2010 | RD 2 - PICK 49 | SAN ANTONIO SPURS
NBA AVERAGES | NO NBA EXPERIENCE
PBA EXPERIENCE |
NONE
NORTHPORT BATANG PIER | KAVELL BIGBY-WILLIAMS
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1995
COLLEGE | LSU TIGERS
FIBA | GREAT BRITAIN NATIONAL TEAM
NBA DRAFT | 2019 | UNDRAFTED
NBA AVERAGES | NO NBA EXPERIENCE
PBA EXPERIENCE |
NONE
MERALCO BOLTS | AKIL MITCHELL
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1992
COLLEGE | VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
NBA DRAFT | 2014 | UNDRAFTED
NBA AVERAGES | NO NBA EXPERIENCE
PBA EXPERIENCE |
NONE
RAIN OR SHINE ELASTOPAINTERS | AARON EPPS (NOTE: NOT YET OFFICIAL)
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1996
COLLEGE | LSU TIGERS
NBA DRAFT | 2018 | UNDRAFTED
NBA AVERAGES | NO NBA EXPERIENCE
PBA EXPERIENCE |
NONE
PHOENIX FUEL MASTERS | DONOVAN SMITH
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1994
COLLEGE | QUINNIPIAC BOBCATS
NBA DRAFT | 2017 | UNDRAFTED
NBA AVERAGES | NO NBA EXPERIENCE
PBA EXPERIENCE |
NONE
HONG KONG EASTERN | CAMERON CLARK
YEAR OF BIRTH | 1991
COLLEGE | OKLAHOMA SOONERS
NBA DRAFT | 2014 | UNDRAFTED
NBA AVERAGES | NO NBA EXPERIENCE
PBA EXPERIENCE |
NLEX ROAD WARRIORS - 2021 PBA GOVERNORS' CUP
SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN - 2023 PBA GOVERNORS' CUP