LA Lakers acquire Fil-Am point guard on NBA draft

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson out of University of Missouri has been drafted to the National Basketball Association.

The 21-year-old Clarkson, whose mother Annette is Filipino, was selected by the Washington Wizards as the 46th overall pick in this year’s draft.

But the six-foot-five point guard but was shipped to Los Angeles Lakers on draft night for cash considerations.

National team coach Chot Reyes said that he has been in touch with Clarkson two years ago, responding to tweets that the future Laker could be eligible for Gilas Pilipinas.

These are possible picks for the NBA Draft, June 26, 2014 in New York. Top row from left are Jordan Adams, UCLA; Kyle Anderson, UCLA; Semaj Christon, Xavier; Jordan Clarkson, Missouri; Clint Capela, Chalon (France) and Cleanthony Early, Wichita State. Bottom from left are Joel Embiid, Kansas; Tyler Ennis, Syracuse; Dante Exum, Australia; Aaron Gordon, Arizona, Jerami Grant, Syracuse and P.J. Hairston, Texas Legends. (AP Photo)

“We do our jobs, tweeps. Clarkson, Brickman, Holt, Stanhardinger, etal are NOT eligible for Gilas because they didn’t choose citizenship before turning 16,” said Reyes in a tweet.

“I have been in touch [with] Clarkson myself 2 yrs ago pa, same [with] many other Fil-ams. Their case is like [Cliff] Hodge, [Chris] Ellis, [Sol] Mercado.”

RELATED STORIES
Cavs take Wiggins with No. 1 pick in NBA draft

Former UAAP MVP Ray Parks gets ‘called back’ to train with Lakers