Jordan Clarkson named as Sixth Man of the Year

History was made on Monday, as the NBA honored Jordan Clarkson as its latest Sixth Man of the Year winner.

He became the first player from the Utah Jazz to claim the award, beating out teammate Joe Ingles and Derrick Rose of the New York Knicks.

The guard of Filipino descent earned 407 points from a global panel of a hundred members of the media, including 65 first-place votes. Ingles would net 272 points with 34 first-place votes. Rose netted the remaining first place vote to finish third with 77 points.  Clarkson and Ingles would be the first set of teammates to finish 1-2 in voting for this honor.

First-place votes are worth five points, second place nets three points, and third-place votes are one point. To be eligible for this award, the NBA denotes that a player needs to come off the bench in more games than as a starter.  

Clarkson came off the bench for 67 of 68 games this season, averaging a career-high 18.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 26.7 minutes. He led all reserves in scoring with 18.3 points and converted 203 triples, the fourth-highest total from a reserve in NBA history. His career-high 208 total three-pointers made is seventh in the NBA this season.

To add, his 89.6% shooting from the free throw line is ninth in the league.

Clarkson produced 23 games scoring at least twenty points off the bench for the Jazz, with five of those scoring at least thirty points. With his 40-point performance against Philadelphia in February and 41 against Golden State in May, he has two of the five 40-point games from a player off the Utah Jazz bench.

In his first full season for Utah after being traded from Cleveland in exchange for Dante Exum and two second round picks (2022 San Antonio and 2023 Golden State), the Mizzou alumnus helped secure the top-seed and homecourt advantage for the entire postseason for the Jazz at 52-20.

The breakdown of voting can be seen below, with individual ballots to be revealed once all season awards have been revealed.

Jordan Clarkson, Jalen Green, Ticha Penicheiro highlight upcoming Jr. NBA Philippines Virtual Clinics

Ticha Penicheiro coaching a participant in the Jr. NBA Clinic back in 2019

The pandemic cannot stop grassroots development of basketball, as the NBA revealed this week its plan to revive the Jr. NBA program in the Philippines through Jr. NBA Philippines Clinics Online, a series of free virtual basketball clinics tailored for both boys and girls aged 13-17.

The Jr. NBA is the NBA's flagship global youth basketball program, aimed to promote a healthy and active lifestyle for its participants.

The 2021 edition will have two sessions. The first clinic on May 29 will feature Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz and Jalen Green of the G-League Ignite. Aside from the customary basketball drills with assistance by Jr. NBA coaches, both players will also participate in a life session and discuss the importance of fundamental skills training in their respective careers.

The second clinic on June 12 is tailored for girls, with WNBA legend Ticha Penicheiro serving as the guest.

NBA Philippines Managing Director Scott Levy shares, "We’re excited to bring together players from across the NBA, WNBA and NBA G League to inspire our young athletes participating in the first ever Jr. NBA Philippines Clinics Online. Shifting the Jr. NBA program to a virtual event will allow us to safely engage young boys and girls through basketball while continuing to promote the importance of an active and healthy lifestyle."

Aside from the clinics, Jr. NBA Philippines will also publish a series of videos featuring Clarkson, Penicheiro, former NBA coaches, local Jr. NBA coaches, and sports science resource speakers on a variety of topics, including nutrition, psychology, diversity and inclusion. These videos will be found on the Jr. NBA Philippines' page on Facebook.

Aside from the virtual clinics, the program is conducting a search to identify ten boys and ten girls that would be participating in the Jr. NBA Asia-Pacific Camp online, a one-day virtual event on July 31 that features advanced basketball instruction, skills challenges, and interactive sessions involving select NBA and WNBA players. To be conducted via social media, the twenty lucky participants will join their counterparts across the region

Interested participants can register on www.jrnbaasia.com. One can also check the site for more details about the program.

SBP and NBA co-written statement on the Asian Games

After issuing their own respective statements today, both the NBA and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas released their own co-written statement.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) jointly issued the following statement regarding the participation of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson in the 2018 Asian Games:

“After continued communication between the SBP and the NBA over the past few days, we were able to come together to pave the way for Jordan Clarkson to represent the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games. The SBP and the NBA have a longstanding relationship of working together to grow the game of basketball in the Philippines, and we share in the excitement of fans across the country and wish Gilas Pilipinas the very best in Indonesia.”

The Philippines is set to kick off its Asian Games campaign tomorrow morning against Kazakhstan at 11am (Manila time).

SBP statement on the Asian Games

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas released this statement in line with the recent announcement by the NBA about the Asian Games.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) would like first to thank the NBA for allowing Jordan Clarkson to play for the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games. This action of the NBA will no doubt cheer the hearts of Filipinos here and all over the world, as we warmly welcome Jordan into the Gilas Pilipinas team.

SBP would also like to thank all those who worked hard with us in putting together this arrangement with the NBA, leading to Jordan’s participation in the Asiad 2018.

LABAN PILIPINAS! PUSO!

NBA statement re: Asian Games Participation

The NBA released this statement in line with upcoming Asian Games, whose basketball tournament includes players with contracts in the league. Full statement below.

The National Basketball Association today announced that it has granted a special exception for NBA players to play in the 2018 Asian Games, permitting Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson, Houston Rockets center Zhou Qi and Dallas Mavericks forward Ding Yanyuhang to represent their respective countries in this year’s event.

The NBA’s agreement with FIBA stipulates that NBA players can participate in the Olympics, the FIBA Basketball World Cup, Continental Cup competitions and associated qualifying tournaments. Because the Asian Games are not one of those competitions, NBA players under contract are unable to participate. However, due to a lack of clear communication of that agreement between the NBA and the Chinese and Philippines Basketball Federations, and after further discussions with both Federations, the NBA has agreed to provide this one-time exception.

Statement from Jordan Clarkson re: Gilas

With the roster for the upcoming FIBA-Asia Championships being released, Jordan Clarkson released this statement, through the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas:

Upon my return from supporting Gilas in The Jones Cup, I had a great talk with my dad. I told him of my experiences with the team and how passionate I was about representing an entire country. My Dad told me to follow my heart."

I spoke to Lakers General Manager, Mitch Kupchak, and he shared the same sentiments about representing an entire country and supported my decision either way.

The Filipino Fans are some of the most passionate in the world and many of them are Laker's supporters. I want to sincerely thank all of the fans who sent me letters of encouragement during these last three months about Gilas.

I trust my team of advisors as they all worked very hard to get terms prepared that would afford me the opportunity to be part of Gilas, if approved. I'd like to say "thank you" for all the people that worked diligently in an attempt to make a dream become reality. SBP Management led by MVP and Mr. Ricky Vargas and Mr. Gregorio, Maria Espaldon of East-West Private, and TEAMCLARKSON.

I'm very disappointed I won't be able to play with the Gilas National Team during the FIBA Asia Championships from September 23 to October 3. We can all agree, the 12 men selected to represent the Philippines in this 2015 FIBA Asia Championship have earned the right and any continued efforts on my part would not be fair to the team. I will cheer them onto Gold.

Let's Get To Rio!

Important to note that Clarkson is on the last year of his rookie deal with the Lakers, and as noted on another post here, Lakers training camp begins during the FIBA-Asia Championships, specifically the second round.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas statement re: Jordan Clarkson

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas released a two-pronged statement on Tuesday. The first part of the statement delves into the Jordan Clarkson situation, as noted in full below:

The vision of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is to form a national team that will be able to qualify for the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. That goal is fueled by the incomparable and inspiring love for basketball Filipinos have. We have always wanted to give our team the best possible chance, thereby instilling national pride in the hearts of our basketball crazy fans.

We did all that we could to have Jordan Clarkson join Gilas for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship but we are saddened to report that we are not able to beat the deadline to secure the necessary clearances on time.

Although we pushed the boundaries whenever possible, this process cannot be rushed if it were to be done properly. But we respectfully adhere to the schedules set by the Los Angeles Lakers whom SBP officials Ricky Vargas and Pato Gregorio met with to try to exhaust all possible options. SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios was also in Geneva to personally attend to the guidelines set by FIBA which also required more time.

The interest and passion of Jordan Clarkson himself with the full support of his family, to don the Gilas jersey serves as a reason for SBP to be hopeful. Though the doors on the 2015 FIBA Asia meet have been closed, the future of the national team program is encouraging with Clarkson’s desire to represent flag and country.

Finalizing the lineup for FIBA Asia was a challenge for Coach Tab Baldwin with the question on the availability of Jordan Clarkson looming. But now, the team shall move forward and put together a squad that will go into battle for national pride.

Jordan Clarkson himself realizes that his inclusion to the Philippine Team at this late hour may possibly distract the focus of the team.

The Los Angeles Lakers Management has allowed Jordan Clarkson to play for the Gilas Pilipinas Team as long as it will not conflict with the schedule of the NBA. Unfortunately, under this limitation, Jordan Clarkson can only participate in the elimination phase of the tournament. This scheduling issue is distinct only to the FIBA Asia Zone, and it does not occur in the other FIBA zones. By this token, we will ask FIBA Asia to consider holding the tournament in the same manner as FIBA Americas, Europe, Oceania and Africa do, that is avoiding scheduling conflict with the calendar of the NBA.

The Lakers open their training camp at the end of September, which falls into the second round of play of FIBA-Asia.

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.