By Ashley Bercasio
After losing the majority of its few games, the Philippine men’s national basketball team is about to get a significant boost with the arrival of Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson.
According to Gilas Pilipinas coach and program director Chot Reyes, the former NBA sixth man of the year is set to arrive in Manila to join the national squad’s preparation for the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
“He has made himself available, he said that he could come in and practice starting I think, August 15, for the next window,” Reyes said in the post-game press conference after his TNT Tropang Giga’s 116-95 win over Converge FiberXers on Wednesday, July 27, at the Araneta Coliseum.
Now that Gilas already got Clarkson’s commitment, it’s now up to the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to take care of the rest.
“SBP leadership team manager Butch Antonio is talking to his representative, his agent, his management team to fix all the logistics to allow him to come here and play,” said Reyes.
But while they are already planning with Clarkson already in the lineup, Reyes admitted that the 6-foot-5 guard’s inclusion is not a sure-fire thing.
“Until he’s actually here, we can never really be a hundred percent. Minsan nga nagkapirmahan na hindi pa rin dumating ‘di ba, so we cannot really be a hundred percent, but right now we are planning with him in the lineup,” Reyes added.
Gilas will face FIBA Asia Cup second placers Lebanon in their own turf on August 25 followed by Saudi Arabia on August 29 at home.
Clarkson last played for the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games where he averaged 26 points per game to lead the national squad to a 5th place finish.
