Jordan Clarkson will not see action when Gilas Pilipinas competes in the 2023 Heyuan WUS International Basketball Tournament in China starting Wednesday.
Gilas coach Chot Reyes said the National Basketball Association standout will not leave the United States until 6 August, prompting him to miss the pocket tourney that will be held in Heyuan in Guangdong Province.
The China friendlies will be crucial to the Filipinos’ buildup for the FIBA Basketball World Cup that the country will host from 25 August to 10 September.
They will be facing Iran on 3 August at the Heyuan Sport Gymnasium before confronting Senegal the following day at the Jiangman En Ping Sport Gymnasium.
Gilas Pilipinas will play two more games against Senegal and Iran on 6 August at the Heyuan Sport Gymnasium and 7 August at the Xiaoqing Sport Center, respectively.
Iran will be parading young players under head coach Mo Abedini, but the pocket tourney will serve as a major factor in determining the composition of the squad that compete in the World Cup.
World Cup-bound Lebanon was also supposed to join but had a change of heart after getting invited to a high-level competition.
Reyes said they expect Clarkson to fly straight to Manila and land on 8 August, contrary to his previous statement that the Utah Jazz star will join them in China on 6 August.
“He’s (Clarkson) initially, we thought he’s arriving 6 August, but turns out he’s leaving LA on 6 August. He won’t play in China. He might just go straight here in Manila,” Reyes said in a television interview a few hours before their departure for China.
Reyes, however, assured that with or without Clarkson, everything is under control.
“Jordan knows what we’re doing,” Reyes said.
“He’s not like he’s coming in blind or coming in for the first time. He knows what we’re doing. He’s an NBA player, he’s a professional.”
Aside from Clarkson, also missing the trip will be injured stars Kai Sotto, Scottie Thompson and naturalized player Justin Brownlee as well as Ange Kouame.
Sotto, the 7-foot-3 NBA hopeful, is still undergoing rehabilitation to treat his back injury while Thompson suffered a finger injury during their training in Lithuania.
Brownlee, for his part, had already been shut down as he is set to undergo surgery to remove bone spurs on his foot while Kouame had been loaned to Rain or Shine for the William Jones Cup.
