Justin Brownlee is not back at full strength yet following a bout with pneumonia, but he was just glad to be cleared to practice with Gilas Pilipinas.
What Justin Brownlee initially thought was an asthma flare-up turned out to be worse.
Brownlee bared to reporters Thursday, Nov. 20, his battle against pneumonia, which also forced him to miss Meralco’s preparations for the East Asia Super League.
“I thought it was an asthma flare-up. [It had] very similar symptoms. I wasn’t taking it really seriously. And then, it just kept getting worse,” said Brownlee, who has suffered from asthma since he was young.
“So I knew it was something different when my asthma medicine didn’t work.”
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Thus began a month-and-a-half-long bout against the said illness.
Though the naturalized Filipino is feeling better now, he said he is still in recovery.
But Brownlee is just happy to be back in action again, hoping he can be at full strength in time for Gilas Pilipinas’ road (Nov. 28) and home games (Dec. 1) against Guam in the first window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
“I'm just happy to be healthy, something like that, obviously a scare, but happy to be healthy. Happy to be able to play basketball again, and be able to breathe normally,” he said.
Brownlee will lead the national team that also welcomed newcomers Quentin Millora-Brown and Juan Gomez de Liaño into the pool.
“I’m doing pretty good. Good to be back. Good to see everybody,” Brownlee said.
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.