Just a few years removed from the Philippine Basketball Association, seven-foot slotman Greg Slaughter and PJ Simon had found themselves strutting their stuff anew, this time with their respective teams in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
On Friday night, the two former PBA stars racked up victories and made a good account of themselves.
Slaughter made his debut game for Manila and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes of action to lead the Stars to a 79-63 win over Biñan.
A four-time PBA champion when he was still playing for Barangay Ginebra, Slaughter’s presence was infectious and it rubbed off on the rest of the Stars, who booked their sixth win in 10 games and handed the Tatak Gel their first ever loss in the tournament after seven games.
The gentle giant saw action on Philippine soil for the first time since he last saw action for NorthPort three years ago when the PBA was still being played under a bubble set up.
He spent the last two seasons playing in the Japan B. League with the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka, a second division squad.
Similarly, Simon provided leadership for his new team, Davao Occidental Tigers, who carved out a tough 64-62 triumph over a crack Pangasinan Heatwaves squad.
A member of PBA grand slam team San Mig Coffee in 2014, Simon retired from the PBA as an eight-time champion while seeing action for the old Purefoods franchise.
He is one among the few ex-players of Purefoods, whose jersey numbers were retired, but the 6-foot-1 guard is not done playing yet and although he saw action in limited playing time for the Tigers, he was able to stabilize the team and contribute five points in 11 minutes.
