It’s up to the Lakers

No wonder the basketball experts we rang up for a Fiba (International Basketball Federation) rules assessment on the eligibility of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Jordan Clarkson to play for the Gilas Pilipinas team were all hesitant to talk.

They weren’t sure if the Filipino-American could play for the national team, despite all the hype and excitement this has generated.

True, Clarkson is a holder of a Philippine passport. He also doesn’t need to fulfill a three-year residency requirement for a naturalized player, unlike in the case of Gilas’ Andray Blatche, who was included in Gilas lineup for the Asian Games last year, but was later replaced by Marcus Douthit.

The Asian Games is under the ambit of the Olympic Council of Asia while the Fiba World and Fiba Asia subscribe to Fiba rules.

Indeed, the 22-year-old Lakers point guard is eligible to play for Gilas in the Fiba Asia tournament, scheduled Sept. 23 to Oct. 3 in Changsha City in Hunan, China.

What we wanted to know from the experts is, would Gilas be a cinch to win the Fiba Asia title with Clarkson in the team?

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The persons we interviewed were hesitant to answer, although they agreed that with Blatche and Clarkson in the fold, Gilas would be formidable.

“But even if Clarkson is eligible to play for Gilas, I doubt if he would be allowed by the Los Angeles Lakers … to play outside the league, even for flag and country,” one expert said.

China’s Yao Ming is a different case, the expert pointed out.

“Even before he signed up with the Houston Rockets for the very first time, it was stipulated in the contract that he would be allowed to play for his country if he was needed.”

Clarkson has no such stipulation or clause in his contract.

Remember the NBA selection that was supposed to play an exhibition game here about two years ago, but ended up performing drills at the venue because they were not allowed by their respective teams to play?.

That is a parallel.

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Clarkson arrived in Manila last Monday to sign a contract with Smart Communications for product endorsements. In the course of the negotiations with Smart, he expressed his desire to play for Gilas.

When that came out in the media, everybody got excited.

“Let’s just not rejoice too early, because I doubt if the Lakers would give him permission to play for Gilas,” the expert said.

Nonetheless, Clarkson’s name, as well as those of Marcio Lassiter, June Mar Fajardo, Bobby Ray Parks and others, was included in the list submitted to Fiba Asia recently.

The SBP, according to executive director Sonny Barrios, has yet to touch base with the Los Angeles Lakers regarding Clarkson.