Mike Clarkson, the father of National Basketball Association player Jordan Clarkson, is thrilled to see his son donning the Gilas Pilipinas jersey in the FIBA Basketball World Cup that the country will host from 25 August to 10 September.
In an Instagram post, the 61-year-old Clarkson expressed excitement while watching his son in a commercial shoot for the World Cup at the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.
The elder Clarkson has a lot of influence on his son’s decision to join Gilas Pilipinas.
In fact, he was at Jordan’s side when he first suited up for the national squad in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018.
Now, with the World Cup drawing to a close, Clarkson couldn’t wait to see his son represent the Philippines against world-class teams like Italy, Dominican Republic and Angola in the preliminaries.
“Lights, camera, action. How cool to watch the filming of a commercial,” said the elder Clarkson, who is married to Anette Davis, a half-Filipina whose mother is from Pampanga.
The elder Clarkson has a lot of influence on his son’s decision to join Gilas Pilipinas.
But while the excitement is building up, Jordan’s availability remains in doubt.
He is reportedly in the middle of a contract negotiation with his NBA club, the Utah Jazz, prompting him to miss the majority of Gilas’ training camp in Lithuania, pocket tournaments in Europe and exhibition matches in China.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas said Jordan had committed to join Gilas six weeks before the start of the World Cup, but with the way things are going, it looks like his availability will take quite some time.
On the same note, Gilas are also still waiting for the availability of 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto, who is busy chasing his dream of becoming the first full-blooded Filipino to play in the NBA.
Last year, Sotto applied for the NBA Rookie Draft, but was left undrafted, forcing him to bring his act to the National Basketball League in Australia and later on, the Japan B. League with the Hiroshima Dragonflies.
