BOCAUE, Bulacan – Fittingly enough, Justin Brownlee captured the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title with Ginebra just a few days after President Marcos Jr. signed into law the bill granting him Filipino citizenship through naturalization.
Brownlee had 34 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists, and three blocks on Sunday night in Ginebra’s 114-99 win over the Bay Area Dragons in Game Seven of the 2022 finals before a record crowd at the Philippine Arena.
READ: Ginebra pulls off Game 7 romp over Bay Area
On Thursday, the President signed into law Republic Act 11937 granting naturalization to Brownlee. He will officially become a Filipino once the Act is published in the Official Gazette and a newspaper of general circulation.
“That makes it even more special,” said Brownlee, who won his sixth PBA title in as many finals appearances. “We play with all-Filipino tonight for the first time since I’ve been here.”
Brownlee said his teammates were happy to see him become a Filipino.
“All of my teammates congratulated me and telling me how proud they are for me becoming a Filipino. Very special and just to top it off with a win. This win is not only for Ginebra. This is for the whole country.
“We fought an international team and got to give them a lot of credit to Bay Area. They played tough, they are coached very well. I’m just happy that we got away with a win,” said Brownlee.
Brownlee said the league record 54,589 fans who trooped to the Philippine Arena was a big help for his team in Game Seven.
“That definitely helped us a whole lot. Playing with a sixth man, the NSD fanatics, all the fans that came out. We were struggling a bit in the game but they were cheering, hearing those Ginebra chants.
"They gave us a lot of fuel tonight. 54,000 plus is amazing to see, looking at the crowd, it was just amazing and I was just happy that we got the win,” said Brownlee.
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