TNT’s decision to bring in Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in the middle of the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup campaign turned out to be a winning move for the Tropang GIGA.
Hollis-Jefferson replaced Jalen Hudson even with the Tropang GIGA in the middle of a 5-1 start to the Governors’ Cup. The 28-year-old Hollis-Jefferson brought an impressive resume that included a six-year career in the NBA where he was mostly part of the rotation that he played in and Lastimosa found it hard to resist.
“We will have a better chance,” said Lastimosa, when asked about the reason behind the import change. “Because Rondae would bring in another side of the game which is on defense.”
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Luck also came to play in signing Hollis-Jefferson.
In January, Hollis-Jefferson was in Boracay taking a break from his stint with Jeonju KCC Egis in the Korean Basketball League. At that time, Hollis-Jefferson was unhappy with his playing time with the team.
“Pumunta ‘yan dito ng hindi ko alam,” said Lastimosa. “He flew over here in January and went to Boracay by himself, went back to Korea and alam niya na may tournament dito. And he told his agent that he wants to play here.”
To Lastimosa's surprise, Hollis-Jefferson returned to the Philippines and was all of a sudden available to play in the PBA. TNT got hold of Hollis-Jefferson and the rookie coach was suddenly in a quandary.
“Somebody called me and said ‘Hey, Rondae is checking in in a hotel. He is flying in,’ didn’t even say that he could come but he did. Hindi alam ni Jalen na nandiyan na. We had a dilemma again. We had to hide him for a couple of days because we had a game.”
In the end, TNT went with Hollis-Jefferson, whose defense, Lastimosa felt, would be an asset to a Tropang GIGA team that had a high-powered offense.
“We felt that Jalen is a scoring threat but he couldn’t guard anyone. He could do better. And Rondae is a known defender,” said Lastimosa.
Hollis-Jefferson confirmed the events that led him to TNT.
“We had five days off in Korea. I was looking for places to go. So I ended up in Boracay. Things weren’t working out in Korea so I told my agent if there’s anything available. And when the PBA league came about, I flew here without a contract,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
Lastimosa said Hollis-Jefferson was just too determined to play for TNT - and proved to Lastimosa that getting him would be all worth it.
“He wanted to play. The first thing that he said to me was ‘Coach, I want to play. I need playing time’ because sa Korea, 10 minutes lang siya naglalaro. And he showed it.”
“First day in practice, being an NBA vet, you couldn’t see any arrogance on his part. He bonded with the players right away with a calm demeanor. He is not loud which is really nice, which actually brought calmness to the team.”
TNT swept all five of the games that Hollis-Jefferson played in the eliminations to earn the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Tropang GIGA went on to lose just three games the rest of the way, leading to a Best Import plum for the former NBA player.
In TNT's six-game win over Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Finals, Hollis-Jefferson averaged 31 points, 14.8 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, He also sealed TNT's first-ever Governors' Cup title with two free throws for a 97-93 win in Game Six.
Hollis-Jefferson was glad that the unlikely events led to him winning the first-ever professional championship of his career.
“I just put it in fate. It worked out for the best,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
Lastimosa said RHJ proved a perfect fit for TNT.
“I think his demeanor, his personality, it just made the team so much better,” said Lastimosa.
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