THE bishop is now a king.
Tony Bishop will be Barangay Ginebra’s interim import for the 2023 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone confirmed their newest reinforcement on Friday evening in an interview with CNN Philippines, saying the former Meralco import will play for the Gin Kings while they await the fate of Justin Brownlee over his flunked drug test at the last Asian Games.
The verdict on Brownlee's positive test is expected next week.
READ: Verdict on Justin Brownlee positive test expected by next week
“We have searched out another import. We’re bringing in Tony Bishop, the ex-Meralco import that we played against in the finals a couple of years ago,” said Cone.
“He was a guy that we had such a tough time with, such a tough time defending. He was so versatile and so level-headed. We couldn’t get under his skin so he was one of the first guys we thought about.”
The 6-foot-8 Dallas-born forward previously played for Meralco in the 2021 PBA Governor’s Cup, where the Bolts lost to Brownlee and Ginebra in a fiercely fought championships series that took six games to decide.
Cone revealed how the Gin Kings nearly missed out on getting Bishop’s services as he was already bound to play as an import for an undisclosed Mexican team.
But as everything eventually fell into place, Bishop is now set to arrive in the Philippines on Saturday and will join Ginebra's training on Monday.
“We were fortunate because he was just ready to go to Mexico as an import and we caught him just in time. I think he’s arriving tomorrow morning or afternoon and we’ll get to practice on Monday,” Cone revealed.
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