Fil-Am NBA player Jordan Jackson has been granted permission by his team L.A.Lakers to play for Gilas Pilipinas in the upcoming FIBA Asia Championship which takes place from September 23 to October 3 in Changsha, China.
But Clarkson’s release from his team does not guarantee that he could finally take part in the FIBA Asia Chapionship games as he has yet to get clearance from FIBA with regards to its rules on citizenship and residency of the players. Clarkson, 23, whose mother Annette, hails from Angeles, Pampanga in the Philippines is one of the promising players of the NBA and is now on his second year as member of the L.A. Lakers team. Read more. There are indications though that Clarkson, who holds a Philippine passport would be granted permission by FIBA to play for Gilas Pilipinas. While Clarkson has been granted permission to play for Gilas by his team, he can do so only until Sept. 28 because the L.A. Lakers team will start training for the next NBA Season which starts on Oct. 28. ?Per the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the Player?s Association, as long as national team play does not interfere with team requirements and there are no injury issues, it is up to the players whether or not to play. Our players must be in Los Angeles on September 28, so as long as he would be back by then, we would have no objection to Jordan playing in the event up until that date,? John Black, vice-president for public relations of the Lakers, told mb.com.ph Tuesday. Gilas has already included Clarkson in the 24-member Gilas contingent and is currently assisting the Gilas team off-court in Taiwan for the William Jones Cup Invitational. Gilas defeated Taiwan in the opening game 77-69 but lost to Korea 82-70 in the second game. On Tuesday, Gilas engaged Russia in a rugged, foul-marred game to win its second outing in the tournament 85-71.
