Tim Cone says Ginebra still awaiting ruling on Justin Brownlee doping sanction

Barangay Ginebra head coach Tim Cone on Sunday shared that the squad remains uncertain of the status of Justin Brownlee regarding the doping issue surrounding their resident import.

Cone said they are still awaiting the final ruling from parties involved such as FIBA, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

"I was informed that we were gonna get some kind of ruling this last week and nothing came down so I'm not sure where it's gonna go from at this point," Cone said.

"I'm not involved in that process of talking to the SBP and talking to FIBA or WADA or whoever we have to do. That's not part of my role so I don't really know what's going on."

Brownlee tested positive for the banned substance Carboxy-THC just days after the naturalized cager steered Gilas Pilipinas to the gold medal of the Asian Games in China last month.

Cone added that the 35-year-old Brownlee was originally set to return to the country sometime last week but didn't make it to his flight due to personal reasons.

"I haven't spoken to him. We were hoping he was gonna come in a couple days ago or yesterday but something happened with his flight, something happened personally," Cone added.

"I'm not sure what it was but he didn't make the flight. We're still waiting to hear."

For now, Cone stressed he and the Gin Kings are dead set on defending their crown in the 2023 PBA Commissioner's Cup with Tony Bishop coming in as their temporary reinforcement.

"I feel terrible for Justin and I feel terrible that we're not able to bring him back this conference so we can defend the championship. I feel terrible for the players because they absolutely love Justin but the bottom line is, at this point, we have to move forward from that," he said.

"At this point, that's out of our control so what we can control is making sure Tony comes in and we get him to be good fit to us and I think he will be."

—JMB, GMA Integrated News