TNT Tropang 5G replacement reinforcement Chris McCullough is back in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) finals in his return to the league after seven years.
Donning a different color from the one he used to suit up in his previous tour, the 6-foot-9 Tropang 5G import is looking forward to the challenge of going up against familiar rival Justin Brownlee and Barangay Ginebra in the best-of-seven Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup championship series.
“Just to finally be able to play against him, it’s my first time, and it will be good,” the 29th pick in the 2015 National Basketball Association (NBA) said.
The series opener is set today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
McCullough played for San Miguel Beer in the 2019 edition of the tournament as a replacement for Charles Rhodes but never had the opportunity to face Brownlee, whose Kings were eliminated in the semifinals by the Tropang 5G.
The 31-year-old McCullough would eventually lead the Beermen to the throne at the expense of his current club.
Now, McCullough will have at least four games to test his mettle against a counterpart he used to work out with back in Queens, New York.
“I think this is going to be one of the PBA Finals that will be remembered for a long time,” he said.
“Great teams going up against great players. This is going to be one that will be remembered. I feel like both teams will be ready for it.”
For the 38-year-old Brownlee, it’s a chance for redemption after a painful seven-game heartbreaker last year against the Tropang 5G, then led by fellow three-time Best Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
And he embraces the challenge of playing against McCullough.
“It’s going to be an exciting matchup. I’ve known Chris for a long time. He’s a lot younger,” the Ginebra resident import said of McCullough.
The two used to train at St. John’s back when Brownlee played for the university in college and McCullough as a young, promising high school star.
Now they’ll be going at each other’s throats for the biggest prize.