.png){kind=spacer}
2 weeks ago
22
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
NLEX import Deonte Burton with coach Jimmy Alapag during practice.–Photo from NLEX’s Facebook
MANILA, Philippines–Deonte Burton didn’t suit up in NLEX’s PBA On Tour exhibition game against Blackwater on Wednesday, but he’s looking forward to finally getting a piece of the action when the opportunity arises.
And once the season-ending Governors’ Cup finally returns next month, Burton would rather play loose than deal with the pressure of having to fill up the void left by the injured DeQuan Jones.
“By just doing the best of what I can, just being me playing basketball and not putting any pressure on myself,” said Burton before the Road Warriors’ 109-107 loss to the Bossing in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
Burton was tapped by NLEX after Jones went down with a gruesome leg injury last month against TNT that required him multiple surgeries. Jones recently returned to the United States to continue his recovery.
WATCH: NLEX and Blackwater set to play an exhibition game at 4 p.m. this afternoon here in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan to kick off the “PBA on Tour” exhibition series.
New Road Warriors import Deonte Burton will not suit up for this tune-up. #PBA50 | @jonasterradoINQ pic.twitter.com/qCNWHiAp2M
— INQUIRER Sports (@inquirersports) September 9, 2026
NLEX is currently tied with San Miguel Beer for the lead in Group A at 7-2 before the conference went on a hiatus due to the Gilas break.
The Road Warriors are also banking on Burton’s familiarity with coach Jimmy Alapag, whom he spent time with in the NBA G-League for the Stockton Kings.
“I would say that he’s a player’s coach,” Burton said of Alapag. “He’s used to what we’re going through. That helps us because when he talks, he puts himself in our shoes and understands what’s going on.”
Burton spent the contest watching NLEX take on a Blackwater side to begin the league’s exhibition caravan. The Bossing were without their import Kentrell Barkley, thus, the Road Warriors opted to play all-Filipino as well.
The Road Warriors are actually the only team that will play twice in the On Tour, with their other game set for Sept. 19 in Batangas City against the Magnolia Hotshots.
“I just have to come in and play, and everything else should fall where it should,” he said.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
