Puno kicks off McGee naturalization

ANTIPOLO City Rep. Roberto V. Puno began the process of naturalizing Denver Nuggets big man JaVale McGee, greasing the path for the high-flying dunk machine toward a possible stint with the Philippine national team.

Puno filed House Bill No. 6169 yesterday, seeking to grant McGee Philippine citizenship and giving the Philippine team an option at the slot in its bid to secure a spot in the 2014 Fiba World Championship.

The Philippines already has a naturalized player in Marcus Douthit, who led the country to a fourth-place finish in the Olympic qualifiers last year—the country’s best finish in a Fiba Asia championship since 1987.

McGee’s naturalization is expected to create a solution in case Douthit suffers an injury.

“McGee has genuinely expressed his willingness to play for the Philippine team. If we will not naturalize McGee, it is most certain that another country will,” said Puno.

The 24-year-old shot-swatter’s value sky-rocketed after he received an invite to the United States men’s national basketball team’s mini-camp in the summer of 2009 and again in the summer of 2010.

Puno said he will set a committee hearing with the House committee on justice chaired by Iloilo representative Neil Tupas Jr., one of the lead prosecutors in the impeachment case against Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“Hopefully, we could get a schedule soon. The idea of getting another naturalized player is based from the reality that when Douthit suffers an injury, the team collapses,” said Puno.

McGee visited the Philippines twice during the 2011 NBA lockout, first in a pair of exhibition games with NBA stars Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant against PBA players and Smart Gilas, and then in a basketball clinic.