When the TNT Tropang Giga announced in mid-February that they were replacing their import Jalen Hudson, it raised eyebrows.
At 5-1, the team was at the top of the Governors' Cup standings. What's more, Hudson was averaging close to 34 points a game, and had just dropped 56 a few days earlier.
But someone better had just fallen into Tropang Giga coach Jojo Lastimosa's lap: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a legitimate NBA veteran who was definitely a game-changer.
What's more, he didn't need any convincing: the import himself wanted to play in the PBA. In fact, he arrived in the Philippines on his own with no promises of a contract.
"I flew here before I even had a contract," Hollis-Jefferson said. "And I just like put it in faith in (Lastimosa), so it worked out for the best."
The wheels were actually set in motion a month earlier, when Hollis-Jefferson, who was playing in Korea at the time, flew to the Philippines for a short vacation.
"We had five days off in Korea, so I just was like looking for places to go," he related. "And I just so happened to end up in Boracay. And things weren't working out in Korea, so I talked to my agent, I was like, 'Hey, is there anything else available?' And that's when the PBA thing kind of came about."
Hollis-Jefferson was unhappy with his Korean team, where he was playing just 10 minutes a game, and wanted to go somewhere else where he could get more run time. While he was here, he learned of the PBA, and a light bulb went on in his head. When he got back to Korea, he asked his team to be released.
Lastimosa only found out about Hollis-Jefferson's interest after the import had quietly returned to Manila.
"He flew over here in January and went to Boracay by himself, then went back to Korea. Alam niya na may tournament dito. And he told his agent, 'Hey, I want to go to the Philippines.' Without me knowing, somebody called me and said, 'Hey, Rondae is in a hotel, he flew in.' I didn't even say that he could come, but he did."
This gave the team a dilemma, because Hudson didn't know that his potential replacement was already in town. "We had to hide (Hollis-Jefferson) a couple of days because we had a game."
Lastimosa knew he would be taking a risk by letting Hudson go, but in the end, he saw everything Hollis-Jefferson brought to the table.
"We felt like Jalen, he's a scoring threat. But he couldn't guard anyone," he remarked. "We could do better. And Rondae, he is a known defender."
Finals MVP Mikey Williams was one of the main beneficiaries of Hollis-Jefferson's elite playmaking and shared: "It was a big adjustment from playing with Jalen to Rondae. Jalen needed the ball a lot. So I had to shy away from taking more shots and just trying to be a playmaker for my teammates.
"And then when Rondae came, we were just clicking on all cylinders. Our chemistry was like we played together all our life. He knew where I wanted to be, I knew where he wanted to be. We made it work."
The Tropang Giga bit the bullet, and informed a stunned Hudson that he was out. Hollis-Jefferson came in, and in his very first practice, showed Lastimosa that the team had made the right decision.
"The first day in practice, being an NBA vet, you couldn't see any arrogance on his part," revealed Lastimosa. "He just bonded with the players right away. A calm demeanor, he's not loud, which is really nice. It actually brought calmness to the team.
"So that's really huge. And more than anything for him as a basketball player, I think his demeanor, his personality, it just made the team so much better."
With Hollis-Jefferson in tow, the Tropang Giga breezed through the rest of the elimination round, quarterfinals and semifinals, going 9-1. TNT fell behind 1-2 in the finals, but after Hollis-Jefferson was named Best Import before Game 4, they proceeded to win three in a row.
All the while, Hollis-Jefferson, a Muslim, was observing Ramadan and couldn't eat or drink anything from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. There definitely were times he looked sluggish on the court, but Lastimosa said he never really talked about this with his import and just trusted him to do what was best for his mind and body.
"I didn't ask him," the TNT coach added. "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it because we were rolling. Obviously, he already got the pattern.
"I didn't want to know how he's doing it. But I know that when 6:10 comes, he's going to take something. Before 6:10, he's not just going to drink or eat."
With his first professional championship under his belt, Hollis-Jefferson said he'll now set his sights on returning to the NBA.
"I mean, I would love to play here again, but I don't know what the future holds," he said. "I'm definitely going to take another shot at playing in the NBA again, so we'll see how that all unfolds."
Wherever he ends up, Hollis-Jefferson said his experience with TNT has helped him become a more complete player as he added: "I think my experience to be able to help a team win a championship, contribute in a big way, leadership role, coaching on the floor, kind of being that guy for a team, I think that helps kind of going to any league.
"I was a role player once before, I know now how to lead a team. So just showing people I can be able to do whatever they need me to do, I think that's the big thing about making a transition."
Lastimosa, of course, would love to run it back next season with his prized import, but also understands the higher calling that is the NBA.
"He said he was gonna go get into a Summer League team, or maybe a training camp team, and will try to get back to the NBA," Lastimosa explained.
"And I wish that he will get it. But at the same time, I wish that he won't get it, so he'll be back here. But I always want the best for him, which is to play in the NBA."