Daily Tribune‘We can’t do anything unless they issue a directive.’
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JUSTIN Brownlee is in limbo after testing positive for a banned substance for the second time.
Photograph by Joey sanchez Mendoza for the Daily Tribune @tribunephl_joey
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is playing the waiting game before addressing the issue of a possible second doping violation by Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee.
Brownlee absorbed another major blow after testing positive for a banned substance just days following a botched Commissioner’s Cup championship bid.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial told DAILY TRIBUNE that they will await the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas’ (SBP) course of action before deciding whether Brownlee will face sanction under league rules.
“We are still waiting for the SBP’s next move,” Marcial said in a telephone interview.
SBP confirmed Tuesday that the naturalized player has received a notice of an “adverse analytical finding” following a random drug test.
“We can’t do anything unless they issue a directive.”
Brownlee tested positive for a prohibited substance usually found in “recreational drugs.”
SBP, however, did not specify when the doping test was done on the 36-year-old cager.
But DAILY TRIBUNE sources said Brownlee’s samples were taken during his stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand last February.
The federation clarified that the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has not issued any official ruling on Brownlee’s situation.
However, the resident Kings reinforcement is currently dealing with the doping issue “aided by his US-based lawyers.”
The PBA has dealt with its players that have tested positive from banned substances before.
Then NLEX rookie Kiefer Ravena served an 18-month suspension after flunking FIBA’s doping test back in February 2018.
He tested positive for Dimethylbutylamine, Methylexaneamine and Higenamine, which fall in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances.
Ravena took full responsibility for failing the test, saying he didn’t know that the banned substances were part of the components of the pre-workout drink he was then taking.
The former Gilas guard was also prohibited by the PBA from participating in any basketball-related activities of NLEX during the course of his suspension, which ended on 24 August 2019.
This is not the first time Brownlee found himself in hot water after failing a doping test.
Brownlee has also tested positive for Carboxy-THC, a performance-enhancing substance that is linked to cannabis use after leading Gilas to a gold medal finish in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
He served a three-month ban, prompting Tony Bishop to take his place as Ginebra reinforcement in the 2023 PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Reports have it that Brownlee was caught using a “recreational drug” to treat an injury — and not a performance-enhancing drug which could spare him from a lengthy suspension.
Brownlee is expected to still see action in the FIBA Asia Cup slated 5 to 17 August in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
