CHICAGO - At long last, our dear Justin Brownlee, who had driven many of us on the verge of panic over concerns of his whereabouts, is back on familiar shores.
Per multiple reports, Brownlee arrived in Manila early Friday morning.
Just in time for the Gilas Pilipinas FIBA window. And just in time for him to be ruled out of tomorrow's EASL game between Macau and Meralco, which announced Brownlee as its naturalized player for the pocket tournament last September 13.
READ Newly arrived Brownlee ruled out of Meralco's EASL game in Cebu
After all the hype and hoopla of an Rondae Hollis-Jefferson-Brownlee collaboration, the only highlights so far are the three absences by Brownlee plus another one on Saturday at my hometown's iconic Cebu Coliseum.
Although the six-time PBA champion has yet to address the issue, his mother team cited pneumonia as the culprit for the trio of missed assignments.
I do, however, suspect another reason. It's not medical, but it's also anatomical in nature.
COLD FEET
A Meralco official, who spoke to me on Friday on the condition of anonymity because the unconsummated Bolts-Brownlee union has been a PR nightmare for the electric company, said he doesn't know the contractual details, if any, between the two parties.
Whether a contract was signed or only a verbal commitment was promised doesn't matter. Everyone can back out of a deal. It happens all the time the same way friendships and marriages come to an end.
Brownlee has so much on his plate right now with his national team duties that will include two upcoming games versus Guam on November 28 and December 1 for the World Cup qualifiers and a SEA Games sortie in Thailand beginning on December 9.
At age 37, with an import-laden conference looming in the PBA where his bread is primarily buttered, it makes sense for the three-time PBA Best Import to exercise old-fashioned load management.
Credit to Meralco, though for doing it's best to put together the best crew possible. While the hardcore Pinoy hoops fan may not really care much about the EASL, the stakes are golden.
LOTTERY PRIZE.
Per my EASL sources, the champion in this tournament gets a cool US$1 million. Second place takes home $500,000 and third place grabs $250,000.
For Brownlee, though, not prioritizing Meralco doesn't mean there's no love there. This is simply a matter of practicality, I surmise.
In other words, donning a Bolts jersey, which must be a horrible sight for the possessive, obsessive NSD fanatics to begin with, is a very low reward and a high-risk endeavour for Brownlee.
In layman's terms, Justin Browlee got way better things to do.
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