JUSTIN Brownlee finally came on board Meralco, as he attended the team's practice for the first time for his coming EASL Home and Away Season 3 debut.
The Barangay Ginebra import received a warm welcome from the entire organization the moment he showed up at the Upper Deck sports center in Ortigas.
Longtime rival Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Gilas Pilipinas teammate Chris Newsome made Brownlee feel at home right away before, during, and after practice on Wednesday afternoon.
The Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player naturally appreciated the gesture of his new teammates.
"It's good to finally play with them and see how they practice, see how they approach the game looking from the inside rather from the outside," Brownlee shared to Spin.ph after the two-hour practice.
"I really enjoyed the practice today. It's pretty intense, but i did enjoy."
Brownlee had to nee a day's rest following his stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the first window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers before officially joining Meralco.
He missed the Bolts' first four games in the EASL after more than a month of recovering from an illness in the US.
Even then, his stint with the team remained up in the air as he was listed in the original final 12-man roster of Gilas Pilipinas in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
Alas, a last-minute change in the rules by the Thailand SEA Games Organizing Committee barring naturalized players from suiting up, paved the way for Brownlee suddenly becoming available for Meralco's EASL campaign.
Brownlee gets his first test as a Bolt on Saturday when Meralco tangles with the visiting Macau Black Bears in Ilagan, Isabela.
The Bolts currently occupy second place in Group B with an even 2-2 record behind leader Taoyuan Pauian Pilots of Taipei (2-1).
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