MANILA, Philippines–The PBA Best Import award is now a toss-up between TNT's Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Barangay Ginebra's Justin Brownlee after emerging 1-2 in statistical points at the end of the Governors Cup semifinals.
Hollis-Jefferson led the derby with 57.4 statistical points, while Brownlee is a distant second with 50.9 according to tabulations released by the league on Saturday after leading their respective teams to the opening conference finals of season.
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San Miguel Beer's EJ Anosike takes third place with 44.6, followed by Rain or Shine's Aaron Fuller with 41.8 to also get the nod as official candidates for the award named after late Shell import Bobby Parks.
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Both Hollis-Jefferson and Brownlee have won the honor given to the best foreign player in the past, and the latter is looking to make history.
Brownlee is seeking a fourth Best Import to break his tie with Meralco's Allen Durham for second place on the all-time list. Parks holds the record with seven. His Best Import plates came in the 2018 Commissioner's Cup, 2021-22 Governor's Cup and 2022-23 Commissioner's Cup.
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Hollis-Jefferson captured Best Import in the 2023 Governors' Cup when he led TNT to the championship over Brownlee and Ginebra.
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Forty-five percent of the statistics will be used to determine the winner, as the rest of the criteria will come from the media (30%) and the players (25%).
The winner will be named before Game 4 of the Geneva-TNT Finals matchup on November 3 at the Sensible Araneta Coliseum.
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