Justin Brownlee is fast becoming one of the best imports ever to play in the PBA. As of the end of the 2021-22 season, he should be included in the Top Four PBA imports ever to play in the PBA. Here is Brownlee’s pertinent numbers that will be a fixture in the PBA record books for quite a while:
Justin Brownlee extends his league-leading triples production
May 7, 2022 – Brownlee made 5 of 7 triples during Game 5 of the finals, including his 400th, most among imports.
Brownlee originally took over the lead in the same conference when converted his 326th triple on January 10, 2020 during Game 2 of the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals between Ginebra and Meralco at Lucena City.
That over took the 325 of former San Miguel Beer import Lamont Strothers.
Brownlee converted 70 triples on 181 attempts in 23 games from downtown this conference. That is equivalent to 3.04 conversions on 7.87 attempts a game and a 38.7% shooting clip.
Brownlee takes over 5th place in all-time import scoring list
May 7, 2022 – Brownlee needed at least 9 points in Game 6 to overtake Billy Ray Bates. After being limited to just 2 points in the first half, Brownlee exploded with 17 of his 24 points in the third quarter.
That officially elevated him over the “Black Superman”. Norman Black leads the pack with 11,329, followed by Bobby Parks, Sr. (8,955), Sean Chambers (8,255), and Laurence Massey (5,386).
Brownlee now has tallied 4,539 point during his PBA career. Ginebra confirmed he will be back for both the Commissioner’s and Governors’ Cup so his chances of passing Massey just got a lot better.
Brownlee joins multiple Best Import awardees
May 7, 2022 – Brownlee’s Best Import award in the second of his career. He becomes the 10th import to achieve such feat.
Bobby Parks, Sr., whom the award was named after, leads the league with 7 while Allen Durham is a distant second with three.
Bates, Black, Derrick Brown, Gabe Freeman, Jerald Honeycutt, Kenny Redfield, and Arizona Reid are the others who have two each.
Brownlee is closing in on Chambers’ league-leading championships won
May 7, 2022 – Brownlee’s 2022 Governors’ Cup title is his 4th, 5th overall if the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup title is included.
He is now just one shy of Chambers’ league-leading 5 Governors’ Cup titles and 6 PBA crowns.
Incidentally, Chambers similarly has a Commissioner’s Cup under his belt. Chambers won the 1996 Commissioner’s Cup as a replacement import for Alaska, virtually giving him a grand slam title.
By Armando M. Bolislis
Photo from PBA.ph