When Jordan Clarkson lands in Jakarta, he is not expected to have a hard time blending in with the Philippine national men’s basketball team.
National team head coach Yeng Guiao expects the Cleveland Cavaliers’ shooting guard to quickly jell with the squad.
“Kung kasing galing naman ni Clarkson makakasama mo, siguro that’s a good problem blending him in,” said Guiao before they left for Jakarta.
Clarkson is heading for Jakarta after the National Basketball Association on Tuesday finally gave its green light allowing him to final play for the Philippine Team.
But he won’t suit up yet as he is expected to arrive about the same time when the Philippines takes on Kazakhstan at 10 a.m. today at the GBK Basketball Hall. Today’s game is a virtual knockout encounter as the loser is faced with a must-win game against China.
Clarkson debuts for the Philippine team on Aug. 21 when it battles China.
Kazakhstan, the fourth placer during the 2014 Asian Games, fought and lost to the Philippines for the bronze medal in the 1998 Asiad. The nationals, then coached by Tim Cone, was led by Jojo Lastimosa when they won 73-68.
The NBA earlier made it clear that the Asiad is not part of the agreement it has with Fiba on the release of its players.
But the league made a U-turn and decided to grant a one-time exemption to Clarkson and Chinese players Zhou Qi of the Houston Rockets and Ding Yanyuhang of the Dallas Mavericks “due to a lack of clear communication of that agreement between the NBA and the Chinese and Philippines Basketball Federations.”
Meanwhile, officials of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the NBA said they are elated over Clarkson’s participation with the Philippine team in the Asiad.
“After continued communication between the SBP and the NBA over the past few days, we were able to come together to pave the way for Jordan Clarkson to represent the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games,” said officials in the a statement.
“The SBP and the NBA have a longstanding relationship of working together to grow the game of basketball in the Philippines, and we share in the excitement of fans across the country and wish Gilas Pilipinas the very best in Indonesia,” they added.