MANILA – San Miguel Beermen, NorthPort Batang Pier and Blackwater Bossing tapped new reinforcements ahead of the resumption of the 2021-2022 PBA Governors’ Cup this year.
The Beermen opted to change their reinforcement despite a decent 2-2 start in the season-ending conference. They brought in Orlando Johnson to replace Brandon Brown.
Johnson is no stranger to PBA basketball. He formerly played for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in 2015 where he averaged 33.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
Johnson is coming off a stint with the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League in Australia. He also had a stint in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers from 2012 to 2014.
Batang Pier, for its part, also came to terms with Jamel Gurley Artis as their new import with the team’s original reinforcement Cameron Forte suffering a knee injury early in the conference.
The 28-year-old Gurley Artis, however, has yet to secure a visa, according to a report by Spin.ph, making it impossible for him to join the Batang Pier ahead of its first game in 2022.
Gurley Artis is coming off a stint with AO Ionikos Nikaias in the Greek Basketball League. He also played in the FIBA Europe Cup recently where he averaged 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.
The Bossing, on the other hand, decided to part ways with Jaylen Bond as they brought in Shawn Glover in hopes of ending the franchise’s 24-game losing skid dating back 2020.
The 31-year-old Glover is coming over to the Bossing following a stint with KR Basket playing in Urvalsdelid Karla in Iceland.
“With the injuries to our local scorers we need an import that can score more,” said Blackwater head coach Ariel Vanguardia./PN
