No Plan B?

There’s a huge sign hanging at the door of Philippine basketball.

It reads “WANTED: Justin Brownlee.”

Yes, the seasoned naturalized player is the most wanted person in town as Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone announced that he will not be around when they compete in the fourth window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

Cone addressed the “big elephant in the room” on Monday, saying that Brownlee will “most likely” not play when they face Jordan on Friday and Iran on Sunday in a pair of homestands at the Mall of Asia Arena that will decide their fate in the FIBA World Cup.

Cone said Brownlee is still in the United States as he doesn’t feel healthy enough to help Gilas in this very crucial window. It’s a valid excuse. In the previous window, Brownlee was nursing multiple lower-body injuries but still tried his best to join the backbreaking trip down under to see action against New Zealand, where he was held to only five points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

After that, he sat out their match against Australia not just because the pain was too much to bear but because Cone recognized the strategic futility of deploying his battered star against the seventh-best team in the world.

Let’s face it: Brownlee is the heart and soul of the national team. He cemented that status when he miraculously saved the Filipinos from the jaws of defeat against powerhouse China during the semifinals of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023. After that, he has been a regular fixture in the national team, serving as the cornerstone in Cone’s very tight rotation.

But Brownlee is no longer a spring chicken.

At 38 years old, the punishment that his body absorbed during the course of his 15-year professional career is already too much and the mileage on his legs is already high. In fact, there was even a time that he was forced to play with a dislocated thumb just to reinforce Barangay Ginebra in the Philippine Basketball Association Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup finals against TNT Tropang Giga last year.

Now, Gilas is sitting on pins and needles as Brownlee — the main engine of Cone’s system — will be out, leaving Cone with no choice but to field an all-Filipino roster in a make-or-break window.

We know that Brownlee will not be here forever. That’s why the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and the Gilas Pilipinas management team must have a Plan B just in case he is not available. They can’t rely too much on the veteran Brownlee, who is now starting to feel the weight of the Filipinos’ massive expectations in the sport they truly love.

Sure, the federation had already identified Brownlee’s successor in Bennie Boatwright. But Boatwright’s application for naturalization remains pending and there is no crystal-clear date when he will be able to suit up — not in the 20th Asian Games and definitely not in the coming window.

And it leads to this uncomfortable question: Did the federation fail to come up with a backup plan in the event Brownlee suddenly becomes unavailable?

Seeing Brownlee struggle to stay healthy isn’t his fault. After all, he is not a machine and he is no longer getting any younger. But knowing that the SBP and the Gilas management have no foresight is quite unacceptable. A backup plan must be in place, especially since the battle-scarred reinforcement is already prone to injuries and burnout after banging bodies in all of those games both for Gilas and Ginebra.

Gilas Pilipinas’ chances of booking a return flight to the World Cup depends on how it will perform in the crucial fourth window. But whether they make it or not, the federation must revisit its program to make sure that it won’t happen again.

Basketball isn’t just a sport in this country; it is a religion, a national passion that demands competence at the administrative level. The SBP owes it to millions of fans to stop relying on miracles and make sure their national team is truly prepared — with or without Brownlee.