MANILA, Philippines—The 2018 PBA Governors' Cup finals has drawn attention from beyond the Philippines, thanks to no less than the best basketball player in the world.

NBA superstar LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers shone a spotlight on the PBA when he posted a picture celebrating Magnolia's triumph over Barangay Ginebra in the semifinals on his Instagram page. There, he congratulated Magnolia import Romeo Travis, his high-school teammate at St. Vincent-St. Mary, who remains a close friend until today.

"Headed to the Finals on a 50-piece nugget!" James said, referring to Travis' 50-point masterpiece that anchored the Hotshots' 112-108 win in Game 4. "Congrats, my brother."

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Headed to the Finals on a 50 piece nugget!! Congrats my brother @rometrav. Keep going Lucky Lefty. #FabFive🖐🏾

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Nov 16, 2018 at 8:33am PST

James also sent a separate shoutout on Twitter.

YesSir!!!!!!!! https://t.co/101F6hlfXD

— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 16, 2018

"The King's" support of Travis — and by extension, Magnolia — has gotten the team's fans even more hyped for their upcoming title series against the Alaska Aces.

For Travis, however, James' tweet and Instagram post were simply his way of showing support for one of his oldest friends.

"He's just my friend," Travis said of James, the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player and three-time NBA champion.

"You guys may know him as LeBron James, superstar, he's just one of my friends, he's just another number in the group chat," he added. "When we're in the group chat, we're all equals."

"So he's just a friend. I don't know any other way to put it, he's as supportive as any other friend who support you."

And as friends, they do engage in friendly competition, even if they are in different leagues.

A couple of days after Travis put up 50 points, James hung 51 points on the Miami Heat in a 113-97 win for the Lakers.

"I would like to think that I had something to do with it, but probably that. It was probably Miami's bad defense had a lot to do with it," said Travis of his high school teammate's effort. "But I talked to him afterwards, and we joked about it."

"We're just happy for each other," he added. "A little friendly competition is good. There's nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, a little trash talk, a little this, a little that. He sent me a message, talked a little trash, but it is what it is."

Travis, who scored 50 points despite dealing with a strain on his left hamstring, would not promise an encore in the finals.

"Honestly, I'm not trying for that (a 50-point game)," he said. "I just wanna win."

"I wasn't shooting for 50, it just happened organically, and I'm just thankful my team won. If they need me to score 50, and I'm having a good day, then why not, you know?"

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)