PBA: Import woes hit NLEX as Jonathon Simmons gets China team offer

MANILA, Philippines—The partnership between NLEX and supposed import Jonathon Simmons has seemingly reached a dead end.

Simmons was supposed debut for the Road Warriors in their first game of the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup against Blackwater on Wednesday but coach Frankie Lim bared problems with the former NBA player.

“He had an offer in China so I said, ‘go ahead, we’ll just look for another guy.’ He probably won’t play on Wednesday but we’ll just try and find a way,” the Lim said in a story on the PBA website.

As of writing, NLEX has not confirmed whether they will be playing with a new import against the Bossings or they will be going All-Filipino.

For Blackwater coach Ariel Vanguardia, either situation would not prompt him to change the team’s game plan as they look for their first win.

“Gano’n pa rin (It will be the same). We will try and contain their import, whoever it may be. One more key is, they have new players so we don’t know the impact they will bring for NLEX,” said the top coach.

While NLEX is uncertain of its import situation, Blackwater will get back the services of foreign cager Shawn Glover.

Glover helped Blackwater snap its 29-game winning streak back in 2021.

Other than the remarkable import, Vanguardia is also excited to play a conference with a complete roster.

“Baser (Amer), Jayvee (Casio) and Joshua (Torralba) will finally play [altogether]. Soon—probably, next week, Troy (Rosario) will play,” said the mentor.

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