A veteran journeyman will be manning the shaded lanes when San Miguel Beer marches to the Commissioner’s Cup of the Philippine Basketball Association starting 11 March.
Marcus Lee, a 31-year-old slotman, will serve as the Beermen’s reinforcement when they shoot for the title that will put them closer to the second grand slam in franchise history.
The former Kentucky Wildcat landed in Manila early Monday and joined San Miguel’s training and preparation in its practice facility along CP Garcia Avenue in Pasig City for the midseason conference.
The job that awaits the 6-foot-11 Lee in Manila is not easy.
Aside from banging bodies with taller, more aggressive imports like 7-foot-3 Bol Bol of TNT Tropang 5G and 7-foot-6 Sam Deguara of guest team Macau Black Bears due to the lack of height restriction, Lee is also facing the pressure of leading the Beermen to their first Commissioner’s Cup title since 2024.
Last year, the Beermen struggled to find the right import as they brought in Quincy Miller, Torren Jones, Jabari Narcis and Malik Pope en route to finishing with only five wins in 12 games, prompting them to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
But with the Beermen winning the recent Philippine Cup, the pressure gets bigger as they are determined to win the Commissioner’s Cup to put them closer to their goal of winning the grand slam.
On paper, it seems that Lee can get the job done.
After going undrafted in the 2018 National Basketball Association Rookie Draft, the former Kentucky Wildcat launched an international career, playing in Italy, Turkey, Puerto Rico, and Spain before landing in Australia where he spent two years in the National Basketball League.
Last year, he played briefly for the King Wilki Morskie Szczecin in Poland before returning to Australia for the Cairns Taipans, who wrapped up their season on 20 February.