King ready for naturalization

Blackwater import George King has expressed interest to play for Gilas as a naturalized citizen and said he’s ready to bring his family over with the intent of settling down here. “I love the Philippines, everybody loves basketball,” he said. “I once played for the US in a FIBA tournament but if they allowed Eric Gordon to play for the Bahamas after playing for the US, I should be OK. I’m not a big name so I hope it won’t be an issue.” Under FIBA rules, a player may represent only one country in a lifetime but exceptions have been granted as in Gordon’s case.

King approached PBA commissioner Willie Marcial to confirm his availability during a chance meeting at the PhilSports Arena last week. He was accompanied by Blackwater teammate DJ Mitchell. King, 30, was in the US roster for the second and third FIBA World Cup Americas qualifying windows in 2022, averaging 2.7 points in three games. His coach was Jim Boylan and teammates included Jordan Bell, Quinn Cook and Langston Galloway. He saw limited action in the US wins over Mexico, 89-67, Puerto Rico, 83-75, and Cuba, 87-64.

In the recent PBA Governors’ Cup, King hit at a 40.3 clip, shooting .395 from four and .379 from three. He averaged 13.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists in leading Blackwater to a 5-2 record. In his last outing, King shot 64 points to lift the Bossing to a 139-118 win over Rain or Shine. King is back to suit up for Blackwater in the Commissioner’s Cup which starts Nov. 27. Although the next conference allows imports of unlimited height, coach Jeff Cariaso is taking a chance on 6-4 1/2 King who said he’s not worried about being undersized. “I’ve been playing against guys bigger than me forever,” he said. King was Phoenix’ second-round pick in the 2018 NBA draft and played a game for the Suns in 2018-19 and four for Dallas in 2021-22. His father was with the Army and mother the Air Force.

SBP president Al Panlilio said he will need to back channel for a formal ruling on how King could be eligible. “The problem is that his stint with USA basketball was very recent (July 2022),” he said. “FIBA allowed Gordon because he last played for the USA in 2010. We can’t get this unless we apply for his eligibility. And we can’t apply for his eligibility unless he is already Filipino. We can just informally ask the eligibility team at this point if it’s possible. It’s not simple.”

The only naturalized Filipinos ever to suit up for the national team were Jeff Moore, Dennis Still, Marcus Douthit, Andray Blatche, Jordan Clarkson, Ange Kouame and Justin Brownlee. CJ Giles was about to be naturalized in 2009 but copped out, later joining Bahrain. Chip Engelland was naturalized in 1985 but never got to play for the national squad in a FIBA event. Bennie Boatwright’s naturalization is in process.