Schonny Winston is playing the best basketball of his PBA career and it is reflected in NLEX’s perfect record so far in the 2026 Governors’ Cup.

Winston arrived at NLEX in a trade from the Converge FiberXers last February, and the move has paid off almost immediately. The Road Warriors are 5-0 this conference, the only team left without a loss, and Winston has been one of the driving reasons why. 

NLEX’s most recent win was made even sweeter as it came against Winston’s former team, Converge, to stay unbeaten.

Through five games this conference, Winston is averaging 20.2 points a night while shooting 52.1 percent from the field–broken down into 58.8 percent on two-point attempts, 35.0 percent from three, and 80.0 percent on free throws. He is also putting up six rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, numbers that show he continues to grow into a well-rounded contributor rather than just a scorer.

Winston has taken a clear jump from the Commissioners’ Cup where he averaged 16.7 points on 43.7 percent shooting from the field, to go with 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists across 14 games. His scoring, shooting, rebounding, and playmaking have all climbed noticeably since then, with his assists average in particular nearly doubling. Almost every part of his game shows that he has taken a real step forward in his second conference with the team.

His best scoring performance this conference came in their previous game which was against the Titan Ultra Giant Risers. He finished with 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting while also grabbing nine rebounds and handing out six assists. Complete, all-around games such as this have increasingly become the norm for him.

The improvement is not confined to the offensive end either. His defense has taken a real step forward this year, and it showed most clearly in the win over Converge, where he took turns guarding several of that team’s key perimeter players, including Mikey Williams, Juan Gomez de Liano, and Alec Stockton.

Much of Winston’s growth can be attributed to new NLEX head coach Jimmy Alapag as he looks like a player who has settled comfortably into what the new coaching staff wants from him.

Winston has clearly separated himself as the best local for the Road Warriors this conference. His scoring, playmaking, and defense have combined to establish himself as one of the best players in the PBA and this has translated into an undeniable impact on NLEX’s unbeaten start.

The top of the standings is not entirely new territory for these Road Warriors. Last conference, in the Commissioners’ Cup, they topped the eliminations with a 10-2 record before their run ended abruptly in the quarterfinals against their sister team, the TNT Tropang 5G. 

Now, in the Governors’ Cup, NLEX is once again racing out to the top of the standings, and the hope this time is that the team can carry that form all the way through the playoffs. The early signs are promising, and with a roster this young, the maturity and improvement needed to get there should come with time. 

At 28 years old and playing the best basketball of his career, Winston looks like exactly the kind of player who can elevate the Road Warriors into a perennial contender and maybe even their first ever PBA championship.