Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) guarantees that they are still making all efforts to include National Basketball Association (NBA) Filipino-American guard Jordan Clarkson to the upcoming 2019 FIBA World Cup Gilas Pilipinas lineup.
Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) chairman, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President, and SBP Vice President Ricky Vargas assured the media present at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Amelie Hotel Manila last Tuesday, April 10 that “SBP is quietly working with FIBA,” but the organization does not respond well to pressure in these circumstances. In his words, “Quietly, Manuel V. Pangilinann (MVP) and SBP President Al Panlilio are working on Jordan Clarkson. We are seeing to it that we can get Clarkson to the worlds. That would be fantastic.”
The 26-year-old athlete has been in the talks of playing in the Philippines since the national team advanced to the next round of FIBA, hoping he would play alongside NBA veteran Andray Blatche, who is a naturalized player. Formerly, Clarkson already represented the country, wearing a Philippine jersey during the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, where he played a major part in his squad’s fifth-place finish. Clarkson is having difficulty acquiring eligibility for FIBA as they have a rule for dual citizens to have acquired the passport they want to represent before the age of 16.
Also aware that the 2019 FIBA World Cup and 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games is happening around the same time this year, Vargas shared that the country is planning to have two different teams to represent the country. “The PBA committed to SBP to support the national team on both ends – on the Gilas road to the World and the Southeast Asian Games,” Vargas elaborated. He also plans for the 3×3 teams to be composed of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) professionals.