Statement from Jordan Clarkson

Clarkson with Sonny Barrios

On Thursday, two statements from two members of the Clarkson family came out, both pertaining to Jordan's participation with the Philippine national team.

The first one came in the morning, from Jordan's father, Mike, via an e-mail:

“As you know in professional sports, timing is of the essence especially when managing a player's career. Unfortunately, the timing couldn't be worse as he [Jordan] prepares for rigors of the upcoming 2015-2016 NBA season and heightened performance expectations.”

The second came in the afternoon, from Jordan himself, via the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas:


"MY FATHER, MIKE, HAS ALWAYS LOOKED OUT FOR MY WELFARE AND IS ONLY GENUINELY CONCERNED FOR MY CAREER, MY FUTURE AND MY WELLBEING - HIS THOUGHTS ARE THAT OF A VERY LOVING DAD.

I JUST CALLED HIM AND WE AGREED WE WILL TALK ABOUT MY PLAYING FOR GILAS WHEN I GET BACK. NOTHING IS CAST IN STONE. BUT I WANT TO ASSURE MY FILIPINO BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT, IF GIVEN THE CHANCE AND EVERYTHING CAN BE WORKED OUT, I SINCERELY WISH TO PLAY FOR GILAS AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE TOTAL TEAM EFFORT FOR FLAG AND COUNTRY - THIS IS THE REASON WHY I AM OBSERVING AND FAMILIARIZING MYSELF WITH THE TEAM WHILE HERE AND WILL EVEN FOLLOW THEM IN TAIPEI FOR THE JONES CUP SO I CAN SEE THEM COMPETE CLOSE UP AND BENEFIT FROM THE LEARNINGS FROM SAID EXPERIENCE. LABAN PILIPINAS! PUSO!"

The Lakers guard had been included in the 24-man preliminary pool the SBP sent to FIBA earlier this week. That pool will be the basis from which 12-man squad for the FIBA-Asia tourney will be plucked from.