Twenty-seven-year-old Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson, who is currently a guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), is officially on head coach Yeng Guiao’s Gilas Pilipinas lineup, which was officially submitted last Monday, July 15.
Guiao confirmed that Clarkson is i19-man training pool, where 12 will be chosen to participate in the upcoming FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Guiao clarified that he “submitted the pool already to the SBP. It’s a pool from where [they] will pick the final 12 once [they] get closer to the FIBA World Cup,” explaining that there is no word yet from the international federation whether or not Clarkson can play as a Filipino citizen.
He talked about the young player as “the backup plan” in case naturalized player Andray Blatche cannot pursue his duties for Team Philippines, clarifying, “Knock on wood, I hope nothing happens, no harm comes to Andray but at least we have options on the naturalized players if anything untoward happens. But we’re hoping and praying that we stay healthy.”
Six-foot-five Clarkson had his best NBA year last season, averaging 16.8 points, 1.8 three-pointers, 3.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 0.7 steals within about 27.3 minutes per game for the Cavaliers.
When talking about the final 12 players that will be included in the lineup, Guiao shared in Filipino, “I cannot say who else is on it. That’s still for the final approval of SBP (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) and MVP (Manuel V. Pangilinan). Once they approve that, I submitted it today, they will release the final pool.”
The next leg of the FIBA World Cup begins on August 31, with seven-time Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) champion coach stating about twice-a-week practices, “We’re asking the rest of the guys to make an effort. I know they’re in the important stages of the playoffs, but that’s part of the sacrifice. What’s important is we need to have at least 10 to 12 players every practice so we can go up and down and practice offense and defense.”