Barangay Ginebra San Miguel star Jamie Malonzo found solace in his teammates to move forward from a trying episode of his life outside of the hard court.
Weeks after getting involved physical altercation in a restaurant that went viral on social media, Malonzo with a bloodshot left eye poured his heart out in an inspired debut in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Friday night.
“He’s found a sanctuary in practice and games. His actual comfort zone is his teammates so I think that’s really good,” Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone said after their 113-107 victory over Rain or Shine.
Fans inside the Smart Araneta Coliseum witnessed Malonzo’s stellar performance as he capped his night with a career-best 32 points.
He shot 12-of-24 from the field, grabbed eight rebounds, handed off three assists and was active on the defensive end tallying four blocks and two steals in a productive 39 minutes of inspired action.
Malonzo, visibly overwhelmed with emotions during the postgame conference, admitted that the past weeks had been very challenging for him emotionally and mentally.
“It’s definitely been tough. It’s been a lot to me. Just credit to my team. They’ve been holding me down, checking on me throughout that whole process. I know they have my back so I gotta give credit to my team,” Malonzo said.
The incident which said Malonzo on the receiving end of hard blows from an assailant caught on camera immediately went viral forced him to miss Gilas Pilipinas’ 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers first window against Chinese Taipei last 25 February at the Philsports Arena.
Gilas blew out the visiting squad, 106-53.
Malonzo was initially announced out of the national team due to “medical issues.” He saw action in Gilas’ win over Hong Kong a few days prior.
“It’s just been tough. I’m going through a lot, fighting through a lot. (It) hasn’t been easy. It’s difficult to cancel out all the noise and go out there and perform and focus on the game,” he said.
