JUSTIN Chua has returned to the PBA team that had been home sweet home for him.
The Phoenix Fuel Masters welcomed back the veteran big man with open arms in the hope of plugging the holes in the middle following the abrupt exit of Prince Caperal and Matthew Daves.
Team manager Paolo Bugia confirmed the team’s signing of the 36-year-old Chua, who played his best season in the league donning the Phoenix uniform.
READ Hudson out to complete unfinished PBA business at Converge
Chua was signed for the rest of Season 50, which holds its final conference for the year starting on July 10 with the Governors’ Cup.
“Yes, he’s signed (for the rest of season),” said Bugia.
“We signed him up as Matthew Daves and Prince Caperal expressed their intentions to go abroad for personal and family reasons.”
The 6-foot-7 center out of Ateneo is coming off a one-conference stint with TNT, which finished runner-up to Barangay Ginebra in the Commissioner’s Cup.
Chua managed to land a roster spot with the Tropang 5G after suiting up for the Gilas Pilipinas team that retained the basketball gold medal in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
But it was during his time with Phoenix when Chua enjoyed the best years of his pro career, one which saw him emerge as the league’s top Defensive Player during the Philippine Cup bubble.
He also registered his highest average in scoring and rebounding during that pandemic-hit season when he normed 11.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, and a league-best 1.6 block shots.
That stint marked the last time the Fuel Masters made the semifinals of the All-Filipino Cup, losing to TNT in the deciding Game 5 of the semifinals series.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
