A PAIR of rivalries will spice up the start of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings-TNT Tropang Giga championship series in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
The first one is between Gin Kings’ coach Tim Cone and Tropang Giga’s Chot Reyes, and the second involves their respective imports Justine Brownlee and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
The last time this happened was during the 2024 PBA Governor’s Cup, with TNT winning their best-of-seven finals series over Ginebra, 4-2.
For Cone, this will be a continuation of the showdown he had with Reyes since the 1994 Commissioners’ Cup, which saw the latter’s Purefoods TJ Hotdogs taking down the Alaska Milkmen, 4-1.
“We’ve been rivals since 19-forgotten. But we’ve been friends, but we’re also competitors. We like to compete,” said Cone days before Game 1 fires off on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Now considered as the all-time winningest PBA coach in history with 25 crowns and counting, Cone will have the Gin Kings bringing back an in-court rivalry — Brownlee against Jefferson, his counterpart with TNT.
The naturalized Filipino Brownlee has been empty-handed (0-2) against TNT against Hollis-Jefferson.
So far, TNT has won two straight over Ginebra in the Season 47 and Season 49 of the Governors’ Cup Finals, both in six games, with Hollis-Jefferson leading the Tropang Giga.
This time, the Gin Kings boasts of depth in the frontline with wingmen Jamie Malonzo and Jeremiah Gray expected to step up.
Their reinforced roster also has Troy Rosario adding more punch in the middle, following his acquisition during the mid-season.
Tropang Giga will be without last year’s finals MVP Jayson Castro, who injured his right knee in game 2 of TNT’s semifinal duel with Rain or Shine.
“I believe that we should be playing at a high level even without Jayson, thinking that his absence will be a critical factor,” said Reyes.