He was a first round pick in the NBA, lest you forget.
Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has been like a hand-in-glove fit for TNT Tropang Giga. In the five games he played, TNT went undefeated—and that streak includes wins against contenders like San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.
But actually, Hollis-Jefferson only learned about the PBA quite recently during his stint as an import in South Korea. Thanks to former Magnolia Hotshots import and naturalized South Korean Ricardo Ratliffe, who was his teammate in SoKor.
“He was telling me about [the PBA], the experience, he loved it, had nothing but good things to say. When I heard that, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m interested,’” Hollis-Jefferson told Noli Eala on the One PH program, Power and Play.
Maybe what pulled him is the reputation of the PBA as Asia’s first play-for-pay league. Maybe it’s Boracay, which the former Brooklyn Net visited a couple of months back.
Whatever it is, he chose to come to Manila, even without any offer from any PBA team.
“When I terminated my contract [in South Korea], I just asked [my agent] to book me a flight to Manila. I didn’t have a contract yet. So, I was just like banking on me getting a contract. I was just like, ‘Look, I’m gonna fly to Manila. If not, I’ll just fly home or to Europe or something,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
Now, he’s with TNT, and the Tropang Giga are looking like favorites again to win the PBA Governors’ Cup title.
But the Arizona product, who has also been to China, is not done flying around the world. His next destination is somewhere he’s familiar with, as he seeks to make a return to the NBA.
“I’m gonna go to the training camp this year. I’m gonna see if I can [get] a training camp deal,” he told Eala.
Drafted 23rd overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, RHJ believes he can still bring it. And if he is not fazed by Ginebra’s three-time Best Import Justin Brownlee, he might be headed back to the NBA.
If he has a choice, he’d love to play again with the Nets.
“I would love to play for the rest of my career in Brooklyn since that’s where I started. But we’ll see, no team in particular.”