Following his more-than-a-year sit-out after failing to strike a deal with his PBA team, the TNT Tropang GIGA, the 33-year-old is back in the country and has reunited with his former Mighty Sports head coach Charles Tiu, this time with SGA.

“It just feels good to be back. Back playing, back in motion, back doing what I love to do,” said the 6-foot-2 ace during SGA-Philippines’ media availability on Sunday at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong. “I take pride in this game that I love.”

After leading the Tropang GIGA to two PBA titles — with Mikey being hailed as the Finals MVP on both of those victories — the Filipino-American guard went back to the U.S. and sat out the entirety of Season 48 until today as they failed to agree to a contract extension.

However, Williams made it clear that he did not completely leave the sport despite not playing professionally for over a year.

“In the States, I’ve been playing in games, I played in the Drew League a little bit,” shared the one-time PBA All-Star. “During the summer, that’s the only place where everyone plays. All the pros are gonna be there, so there was a great level of basketball.”

Aside from this, despite being a thousand kilometers away from his TNT teammates, Williams also bared that he has never cut connections with his fellow Tropang GIGA.

“I’ve been talking to a few of my teammates every once in a while when I was in the States,” he said. “I was watching each and every game to stay in tune ‘cause I thought I’d be back sooner than expected, but it didn’t work out that way.”

Unfortunately, his situation with TNT was also the reason that he was not able to finalize playing for Tiu and SGA in the 2024 edition of the Dubai games.

“I wanted to be here, but there was a sensitive issue with TNT. For me to come out here, it would’ve created conflict,” he said.

Fortunately for Williams, his familiarity and connection with Tiu have helped him finally fulfill this even if his current situation with TNT is not yet ironed out.

“I have two championships with him, the Jones Cup and the Dubai tournament, so this is my third stint, and we kinda have that understanding with each other — we know what it takes to win,” he said of the Converge FiberXers deputy.

As for his return to TNT, Mikey was mum on how things will go following the Dubai championships which will be held from January 24 to February 2.

“Only time will tell. I know I have to get with TNT, and see where things go from there,” offered Williams. “I’ve been focused on this Dubai tournament and have been practicing here, so that’s the only thing on my mind right now. What comes after? We’ll see. “

Williams also refused to share whether there are offers from other PBA clubs for him to play for them, but he knows where he wants to continue his playing career.

“No comment,” answered Mikey regarding other offers. “I wanna see how things play out. This is where I want to be, where I want to play, so I guess, we’ll see what happens.”