TIM Cone believes basketball fans are in for an exciting treat when Barangay Ginebra takes on TNT in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner's Cup Finals, saying Justin Brownlee versus Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is a matchup made in heaven.
For Cone, Brownlee and RHJ are two of the best imports the country has seen in a while and their rivalry is expected to raise the level of competition in the best-of-seven championship series beginning on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
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“Just two special players. We’re lucky that this time right now in the PBA, we're able to witness these two guys go at each other,” said Cone.
“These are monumental times. I think when we look back 10 years from now, we’re going to be remembering this time when the rivalry was big between Justin and RHJ.”
Heading to Part III of their matchup, the 29-year-old Hollis-Jefferson appeared to have Brownlee’s numbers by going 2-0 against the Gilas naturalized player during the 2023 and 2024 editions of the Governors’ Cup.
Besides winning two championships in a row, the TNT reinforcement also beat the 36-year-old Brownlee twice for the Best Import Award.
But that’s not to overlook what Brownlee achieved for the Kings through the years, where he won six championships and three Best Import Awards since he began donning the Ginebra jersey in 2016.
Not to forget, too, about Brownlee’s heroics in the 19th Asian Games where he powered Gilas Pilipinas past Hollis-Jefferson, who played for Middle East basketball power Jordan, to win the Philippines' first men’s basketball gold medal in 61 years.
Cone said Brownlee and Hollis-Jefferson had perfectly fitted in to their respective teams' system, which partly explains their success.
“RHJ just brought a tremendous mentality to the TNT team. He shows up every game, he shows up every quarter,” Cone said of the former NBA player, who was a first-round pick of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2015 draft.
Hollis-Jefferson averaged 28.8 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in the Tropang Giga’s five-game semis series against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
“He just inspires his teammates. You see it on the floor every time.”
And Brownlee?
“It’s that comfortability that we have with him, the confidence that we have in him, knowing he’s going to show up in big moments, just being a great teammate and just being one of the guys,” said Cone of his resident import.
Now being mentioned GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) conversations about PBA imports, Brownlee submitted all-around numbers of 18.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in the Kings’ five-game semis series against Northport.
“Never asking for special treatment, never asking really for anything,” Cone added of his ever humble import.
It is because of this looming import rivalry that the coming series would perhaps go down as one of the best and one of the most hotly-contested PBA championships in years, hopefully a gift to fans eager to see the greats go head-to-head.
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