Brownlee heads import cast

MANILA, Philippines — PBA teams are now firming their choice of imports for the Governors Cup set to start in the third or fourth week of November with IATF, GAB, DOLE and DFA endorsing their arrival. Commissioner Willie Marcial yesterday expressed gratitude to DFA Secretary Teddyboy Locsin Jr., DFA Undersecretary Brigido Dulay, Sen. Francis Tolentino and GAB chairman Baham Mitra for paving the way to clear the imports coming to play in the second conference where the height limit for foreign reinforcements is under 6-6.

Barangay Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee leads the list of candidates and is set to see action in his eighth conference after winning championships in the 2016, 2017 and 2019 Governors and 2018 Commissioner’s Cups. The other returning imports are Magnolia’s Mike Harris (Alaska, 2017-18 Governors Cup), Phoenix’ Paul Harris (TNT, 2011, 2012, 2014 Governors Cup; Barangay Ginebra, 2016 Governors Cup), Rain Or Shine’s Henry Walker (Alaska, 2014 Governors Cup; NLEX, 2016 Governors Cup; Blackwater, 2017 Governors Cup, 2018 Commissioner’s Cup), San Miguel Beer’s Brandon Brown (Phoenix, 2017 Governors Cup), NLEX’ KJ McDaniels (TNT, 2019 Governors Cup) and Alaska’s Olu Ashaolu (NLEX, 2017-18 Commissioner’s Cup, 2019 Governors Cup).

The newcomers are Terrafirma’s Antonio Hester of the University of Mobile, Blackwater’s Jaylen Bond of Temple University, Meralco’s Shabazz Muhammad of UCLA, NorthPort’s Cameron Forte of Portland State and TNT’s Mckenzie Moore of the University of Texas at El Paso. The youngest in the batch is Forte, 28, and the oldest is Mike Harris, 38, who played 10 years in China with additional stops in Ukraine, Lebanon, Kuwait, Puerto Rico, Bahrain, South Korea, Qatar and Iran. McDaniels and Bond are also 28 but a few months older than Forte.

Three imports were drafted in the NBA. Walker, 34, was picked on the second round by Washington in 2008, Muhammad on the first round by Utah in 2013 and McDaniels on the second round by Philadelphia in 2014. Four saw action in the NBA – Mike Harris in 54 games over four years with Houston, Washington and Utah; Walker in 181 games over five years with Boston, New York and Miami; McDaniels in 148 games in three years with Philadelphia, Houston and Brooklyn and Muhammad in 278 games, including 16 starts, over five years with Minnesota and Milwaukee.

Moore, 29, was on the TNT squad that participated in the East Asia Super League Terrific 12 in Macao in 2019 and earlier that year, played on coach Charles Tiu’s Mighty Sports squad that swept the Jones Cup with current PBA players Mikey Williams, Troy Rike, Jaime Malonzo and Roosevelt Adams. Forte, 28, is a naturalized player for Jordan and has suited up in Hungary, Kosovo, Mexico, Iceland, Uruguay, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, Chile and Canada.