The Meralco Bolts will be activating their original choice of import, Jordon Varnado, in time for their showdown with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel later tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Meanwhile, the NLEX Road Warriors will play the Converge FiberXers without an import.
Meralco Turns to Varnado
Meralco named Varnado as its import for the PBA Governors’ Cup after the latter suited up for the team at the Basketball Champions League Asia in 2025. There, the 29-year-old Tennessee native gave a good account of himself, putting up 19.7 points and 10.0 rebounds across three games. He also helped lead the Bolts to the quarterfinals before bowing to eventual bronze medalists XAC Broncos of Mongolia in a close 83-78 loss.
However, Varnado injured his calf in a tune-up game ahead of the conference, leaving the Bolts no choice but to sign Antonio Hester in his stead. The hulking Hester played seven games for Meralco and averaged 22.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists but could only lead the team to a 2-5 record.
NLEX Goes Importless After DeQuan Jones Injury
NLEX, on the other hand, will be facing off against Converge without any reinforcements, as confirmed by team management.
The Road Warriors were forced into this situation after returning import DeQuan Jones suffered an ankle dislocation with a fibular fracture in NLEX’s 118-111 win over the TNT Tropang 5G on Wednesday.
According to a report from the PBA, NLEX could have either flown in a replacement on short notice or tapped an import recently let go by another team to take Jones’s place versus the FiberXers. But Jimmy Alapag nixed both, as he supposedly wants to do due diligence on the team’s next reinforcement.
Jones, meanwhile, already underwent surgery to fix his dislocated ankle. He is set to go under the knife again to repair his fracture.
NLEX will play Converge at 5:15 p.m., while Ginebra will face off against Meralco in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. This double-header will be the last for the time being as the PBA will be taking a long break after it.
