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| Justin Brownlee's health concerns were revealed during the post-Asian Games evaluation hearing called by Senator Bong Go. Dennis Acosta (file photo) |
QUEZON CITY—Ginebra and Gilas Pilipinas head coach Justin Brownlee revealed on Thursday that Justin Brownlee has been sidelined for quite a while due to health concerns, including a heart issue.
Summoned by Senate committee on sports chairman Bong Go, along with other top sports officials, to evaluate the Philippine team's campaign in the Asian Games, Cone said that Brownlee has been dealing with such health issues for months already, prompting Ginebra to find a different import for the PBA Governors' Cup and Gilas to play all-Filipino for the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and Asian Games.
"That's why he's not playing for Ginebra at this time and why he hasn't played this conference: because he's had health concerns regarding blood pressure and heart issues, so he is not able to play at this point," Cone said in the Senate committee hearing.
Brownlee played through a leg injury in Gilas' double-overtime thriller against New Zealand in the third window of the FIBA WCQ before sitting out the next game against Australia.
Although he has other naturalized player options in Ange Kouame and Malick Diouf, Cone opted to play all-Filipino in the must-win Window 4.
Cone hoped that Bennie Boatwright would be formally naturalized in time for the Asian Games, but Cone decided not to wait for the Department of Foreign Affairs to give Boatwright a Philippine passport and go all-Filipino again for the Asian Games.
"We were waiting for the naturalization papers of Bennie Boatwright, and they weren't completed in time for the submission of the lineup. So we couldn't use Bennie," Cone further said, adding that Brownlee, Boatwright, and Kouame were all in the 30-man "long list" for Gilas' Asian Games campaign.
Winning the gold medal in 2023, Gilas stumbled to ninth place in the recent Asian Games in Nagoya, highlighted by a 42-point loss to China in their last group stage game.
Gilas' dismal stint was among the lowlights in what had been the most solid performance by the Philippine team in the Asian Games since 1962.
PBA-wise, the Gin Kings brought in Riley Grigsby as their stand-in import while waiting for Brownlee.
Ginebra released Grigsby when the league took its long Gilas break in hopes of activating Brownlee, but the revealed health issues forced the team to find another import, eventually signing Jordan Murphy.
Murphy makes his PBA debut on Sunday night, right when the Gin Kings take on the Magnolia Hotshots in what could possibly be the last "Manila Clasico" of the league's landmark 50th season.
