'Hard to argue vs seven championships': Cone says Brownlee the 'GOAT'
MANILA, Philippines — For Tim Cone, Justin Brownlee just cemented his status as the greatest PBA import ever.
Following his seventh PBA championship, Justin Brownlee is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) import, the veteran coach said.
Brownlee won his seventh PBA title on Wednesday after Barangay Ginebra’s 88-76 victory over the TNT Tropang 5G.
He is now the import with the most championships in the PBA, as he has one more than Alaska legend Sean Chambers.
“It’s really hard not to put him there now. There's Tony Harris. There's a lot of great imports, Norman Black, Sean Chambers, of course. And I know I'm missing a few out there. Billy Ray Bates, yeah. But it's hard to argue against seven championships,” Cone said.
“It's hard to argue about the numbers he's put up, and especially in this era where players are bigger and stronger, and so imports can't dominate like they used to,” he added.
Brownlee showed why he is one of the best imports in the PBA ever, especially with a 54-point career high in Game 5 and a 52-point explosion in Game 6.
In the game-clinching Game 7, he finished with 30 markers, 14 rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block.
The beloved Ginebra reinforcement averaged 36.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.3 steals a contest in the seven-game series.
“Back in the day, [imports] were just so much bigger and stronger than everybody else that they could dominate. But the defenses have become more sophisticated. It's really hard to go out there and dominate as an import nowadays as opposed to 20, 30 years ago,” Cone said.
“And so I just don't think there's any doubt in my mind at this point that he is the GOAT.”
Cone, however, acknowledged that there will always be debate on who the GOAT is, like in the NBA.
“But there's always going to be that. I think Michael Jordan's the GOAT, and there's a lot of people who think LeBron [James] and Kobe [Bryant] and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and now [Victor Wembanyama] are going to be the GOATs at some point. So there's always that argument. But for me, my opinion, Justin's the GOAT.”
Brownlee, after Game 7, stressed that he did not expect to still be playing in the PBA, 10 years since he debuted in the league.
“It means everything [to me]. Ten years ago, I would never thought I’d be playing, still, at 38 years old, winning championships, but these fans, they give me the energy to go out there and play for them, play for my family and just the best I can,” he said.
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