Early 2018 blast as Alab signs Brownlee, Balkman

“Tanduay Alab Pilipinas welcomes Justin Brownlee and Renaldo Balkman,” Dy said via Instagram. (Photo: sportsagentcd/Instagram)

MANILA — New year, new Alab.

Charlie Dy, the Tanduay Alab Pilipinas club’s top official, announced early Monday that the Asean Basketball League’s (ABL) Philippine team signed former PBA imports Renaldo Balkman and Justin Brownlee as its new world imports.

“Tanduay Alab Pilipinas welcomes Justin Brownlee and Renaldo Balkman,” Dy said via Instagram.

Brownlee and Balkman will replace Reggie Okosa and Ivan Johnson ahead of the resumption of ABL play on Wednesday night, when Alab hosts Malaysia at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Brownlee was among the main catalysts of Ginebra’s back-to-back PBA Governors’Cup titles the past two seasons.

Meanwhile, Balkman was a first round pick in the US National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft and notably played for New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets in the NBA before eventually landing a spot in the PBA as San Miguel’s import.

However, that stint was marred by a confrontation between him and Arwind Santos that even saw the latter getting held on the neck by the former.

The incident led to a ban slapped on the Puerto Rico national team player.