A familiar face in Joe Devance is returning for Brgy. Ginebra as the Gin Kings gear up for their PBA Governors' Cup title bid.
Joe Devance’s retirement only lasted for two years.
The 12-time PBA champion is unretiring to mark his PBA comeback with the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, the 42-year-old announced on social media, Tuesday, September 24.
In an Instagram post, Devance shared a league memorandum in which the Gin Kings are activating the veteran in lieu of rookie Paul Garcia, who has been relegated to the team's Unrestricted Free Agent With Rights to Receive Salary (UFAWR2RS) List.
[Instagram | @jdv38]
“Through it all it brought me back here. This is a surreal feeling I'm going through right now. This is the closure I wanted and needed. I'm honored to have this chance. I'm on an emotional roller coaster because I never had my family not watch me play. They would have enjoyed this moment with me through all the battles, the high times and low times with every team my family has always been my support system,” Devance wrote in a post.
“I’m going to give it everything I have 1 last time for my @pbaconnect brotherhood and @barangayginebra . Let's see what we can do.”
Head coach Tim Cones is bringing back one of his trusted lieutenants in hopes of bolstering the Gin King's championship bid. The decision was also made after Brgy. Ginebra lost Isaac Go to an apparent knee injury in their 124-102 win against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters last Friday, September 13.
[ALSO READ: PBA: Revenge victory over Rain or Shine 'bittersweet' for Ginebra coach Tim Cone as new Gin King Isaac Go hurts knee]
“Losing Isaac [Go], he’s a very big part of what we’re trying to build,” Cone expressed in the aftermath of that game.
Both teams met three times in the playoffs – all in the championship series of the 2016, 2017 and 2019 Governors' Cup – with Brgy. Ginebra coming out victorious in all of those battles with the presence of their respective imports Justin Brownlee and Allan Durham.
But the Bolts have beaten their arch-rivals in their last two playoff match-ups, first in the 2022 Philippine Cup quarterfinals (2-1) and the last edition of the All-Filipino semifinals (4-3) en route to winning their first-ever franchise title.
[ALSO READ: PBA: Chris Banchero, Meralco stun Ginebra in Game 7, reach PH Cup Finals for first time]
With Devance finally back in the fold, could he spell the difference and help Brgy. Ginebra reclaim the Governors’ Cup title?