Throw all of the wine metaphors out the window. Something–or in this case, someone–has taken aging gracefully to another level. 

With the way Justin Brownlee has been playing this year, one would be forgiven for mistaking him for someone 10 years younger. Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s resident import continues to play at an elite level at the age of 36 and is showing no signs of slowing down. 

Four months after setting a new PBA career-high of 51 points, Brownlee came precariously close to eclipsing this mark in Ginebra’s win two weeks ago over the TerraFirma Dyip.

Brownlee scored 49 points in Ginebra’s dominant 114-98 victory, hitting 19-of-29 field goals attempts, including six-of-11 three-pointers in 41 minutes. He also made all five of his free throw attempts and tallied 12 rebounds, six assists, and two steals to round out a truly dominant performance.

The 6’6 forward scored the opening basket of the game for Ginebra–an easy midrange jumper generated by a baseline inbound play–and did not look back. He put up 25 first half points, helping Ginebra build a nine-point halftime lead.

Come the second half, Brownlee once again hit the first basket for Ginebra, but this time it was a tough lay-up against all five TerraFirma players who collapsed into the paint in a futile attempt to stop him. Ginebra separated itself from the Dyip in the third quarter, extending their lead to 16 by the end of the period.

TerraFirma somehow rallied back though, trimming Ginebra’s lead to six, 99-93, with 4:26 left to play off a lay-up from Vic Manuel. However, all this did was provide Brownlee yet another opportunity to save the day. He responded with a couple of tough shots–a lay-up in traffic and a contested three-pointer–that put the Dyip away for good.

What continues to stand out about Brownlee’s play is that most, if not all, of his points came within Ginebra head coach Tim Cone’s vaunted triangle offense. Even on a night such as this when he came close to scoring 50 points for the second time in his PBA career, Brownlee was not forcing shots and only took them within the rhythm of their offense.

This might actually be the key to Brownlee’s longevity. His willingness and humility to play within Cone’s system puts him in prime scoring positions without having to exert the kind of effort that typical ball-dominant perimeter scorers usually do. In simpler terms, Brownlee and Cone make each other’s lives easier, and the entire Ginebra franchise is there to reap all of the benefits of this blossoming partnership.

In the follow up to this explosive performance, Brownlee tallied 28 points, five three-pointers, seven rebounds, five assists, one steal, one block, and zero turnovers in Ginebra’s Christmas Day 95-92 win over the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots. It was a classic ‘Never Say Die’ win for Ginebra as they rallied back from a 22-point deficit in the third quarter to steal the win. 

Brownlee outplayed his Magnolia counterpart, naturalized South Korean Ricardo Ratliffe, in their highly anticipated import match-up. Ratliffe finished the night with 17 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, and two turnovers. 

Father Time will indeed catch up to Brownlee one day, but for as long as he continues to play for Cone at Ginebra, it might literally take another decade for that ‘one day’ to come. These two have known each other for close to a decade now at this point and it has become apparent that their ever-growing bond has only made things easier for them on the court through the years.

Brownlee has already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players to ever play in the PBA, though the question still remains: Is this already the denouement of his story or is the climax still underway? If it’s the latter, then it should only be a matter of time before people start raving that their vintage bottle of wine is “aging just like Brownlee.” This man is a timeless icon and no one can argue otherwise.