Jordan Clarkson is set to reap the reward for taking Asian basketball by storm.
Clarkson, the naturalized player of Gilas Pilipinas, leads a stellar cast of competitors who were nominated for the FIBA Asia honors.
The 31-year-old swingman, whose dazzling plays during the FIBA Basketball World Cup swept fans off their feet, is close to bagging the award that will be voted upon by fans until 1 January 2024.
His star power shone even brighter when he erupted for five straight three-pointers in the third quarter that led to the Filipinos’ 96-75 win over China in the final day of competition. The win salvaged the Filipinos some measure of pride as they avoided a complete shutout in the tourney that was witnessed by a massive home crowd.
He finished the competition as the Philippines’ leading scorer with 26 points per game in 35 minutes of action, highlighted by a 34-point explosion against China. His offensive output wasn’t far from that of Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, who averaged 27 points per game to emerge as the tournament’s highest scorer.
Clarkson is expected to don the Gilas jersey anew when they see action in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia from 2 to 7 July.
“It feels good,” the Utah Jazz gunner said after leading Gilas to their first win since beating Senegal in the 2014 edition of the World Cup in Spain.
“It’s been a tough tournament but we kept fighting.”
“We really wanted to end this on the right note. We might not see the same guys in the locker room after this. But at the same time, we wanted to show heart and fight.”
Aside from Clarkson, also nominated was Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the former TNT Tropang Giga import who served as naturalized player of Jordan in the World Cup and the 19th Asian Games.
The hardworking former National Basketball Association standout failed to lead Jordan to an outright Paris Olympic berth, but he flaunted his big fighting heart when he exploded for 39 points in their 87-95 loss to New Zealand on 28 August.
He continued his offensive onslaught in the Asian Games in which he led Jordan all the way to the championship round before falling prey to Gilas Pilipinas bannered by naturalized player Justin Brownlee.
TNT Tropang Giga coach Jojo Lastimosa believes that Hollis-Jefferson has a good chance of winning the prestigious award as his popularity among Filipino fans could lead to more votes.
“RHJ can affect a team in so many ways,” Lastimosa, who coached Hollis-Jefferson in the previous Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup and the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup before he was replaced by his brother Rahlir, said.
“He has proven that to us and he brought that same attitude to Jordan.”
Aside from Clarkson and Hollis-Jefferson, other candidates are Wael Arakji and Sergio El Darwich of Lebanon, Zhou Qi of China, Yuki Kawamura of Japan, and Mustafa Rashed of Bahrain.
