Former PBA Finals MVP Mikey Williams is back in town to play for Strong Group Athletics in Dubai. Is a return to the pro league in the cards?
After being away for over a year, talented guard Mikey Williams is back in the Philippines.
Williams flew in last week to begin practicing with Strong Group Athletics (SGA) for the upcoming 34th Dubai International Basketball Championship. He’ll be teaming up with DeMarcus Cousins, Andray Blatche, Jason Brickman, Ange Kouame, and Rhenz Abando, among others.
Since then, he’s been spotted at a PBA game, where he watched the TNT Tropang Giga, the team that he led to the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup championship, beat Barangay Ginebra in the ongoing PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup.
Shortly after that title run, Williams and the Tropang Giga reached a stalemate on contract extension negotiations, prompting the team to leave him out of their roster for succeeding conferences.
But does Williams’ appearance at a TNT game indicate that a reconciliation is in the offing?
“Only time will tell,” Williams replied after SGA’s practice on Sunday. “I know I have to get together with TNT and see where things go from there. I’ve been focused on this Dubai tournament and I’ve been practicing here so it’s the only thing on my mind right now. What comes after, we’ll see.”
Williams was supposed to suit up for SGA last year in the same tournament, but because of the issue with TNT, the arrangement fell through.
“Nothing changed my mind at all, I wanted to be here but there was a sensitive issue with TNT,” he explained. “For me to come out here, it would have created a lot of conflict and that’s what I was trying to avoid.
“As I said, it was a sensitive issue but I guess we’re going to resolve it when it gets resolved.”
Williams did reveal, though, that even when he was away, he had been in close contact with some of his TNT teammates.
“You guys will be surprised, I’ve been talking to a few of my teammates every once in a while when I was in the States. I was watching each and every game, just trying to stay in tune.
“I thought I would be back sooner than I expected but it didn’t play out that way. Just got to take things for what they are now. We’re focused on this Dubai tournament, what comes after, like I said, we’ll see.”
When asked if other PBA teams have reached out to him, he coyly replied with a “no comment.”
Focus on Dubai
The past several months haven’t exactly been uneventful for Mikey Williams, the TNT impasse notwithstanding.
“In the States I’ve been playing little adult league games, played in the Drew League a little bit,” he said, referring to the prestigious off-season summer league held in the US. “During the summer that’s the only place to play because all the pros are going to be there.
“It’s great basketball, great IQs, it’s a great level of basketball period. That’s just summer, everybody playing around, trying to get better, trying new things with their game, tuning their game. Whatever it may be, just having fun with it.”
Now, he’s onboard to help SGA and coach Charles Tiu win it all in Dubai after the team fell painfully short last year. There will already be a certain degree of familiarity between Williams and Tiu, as both have worked together in the past.
“I have two championships with him, the Jones Cup and the Dubai tournament and this is going to be my third stint with him,” Williams said of Tiu. “We kind of have an understanding for each other and we know what it’s going to take to win and to carry out the mission.”
Already, over just a few practices, Williams has caught the eye of his most popular teammate.
“Mikey Williams gained a new fan in me,” said Cousins, who signed up with SGA for the Dubai tournament several days ago. “He’s a really talented player.”
In Dubai, SGA will be facing several topnotch Middle Eastern club teams, as well as another Philippine team in the Zamboanga Valientes. Mikey Williams, though, isn’t too concerned about potentially facing a fellow Philippine team.
“It’s just another team in the way of reaching the goal that we all implemented for ourselves. We know what it’s going to take to carry out each and every day but we just take every game, one game at a time and just go from there.
“It feels good to be back. Back playing, back in motion, back doing what I love to do. I take pride in this game that I love and what you put out is what you’re going to give and what you’re going to get.
“The goal right now is to win another championship in Dubai and I can’t wait.”
After Dubai, Williams says he’ll fly back to Manila and hopefully resume his aborted PBA career.
“I want to see how things play out. This is where I want to be, this is where I want to play. So I guess from here, we’ll see where we go and what happens.”
Banner image by Sid Ventura.