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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider George King wants to become a Gilas player

George King wants to become a Gilas player

Published Sep 24, 2024 05:27 am

At A Glance

  • The prolific Bossing reinforcement expressed his intention to become a naturalized player and become part of the pool of Gilas Pilipinas.

Like a love at first sight, Blackwater import George King seems to have fallen in love playing basketball in the Philippines even in a short period of time.

The prolific Bossing reinforcement expressed his intention to become a naturalized player and become part of the Gilas Pilipinas pool.

PBA Images8 (74).jpg

“I would love to play for the national team. I would love to put that blue No. 94 jersey on, I would love to do that,” said King who admittedly grew fond of playing in front of the Filipino basketball fans while playing for the Bossing.

King said he was familiar with Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson who took the naturalized player role for the Nationals during the FIBA 2023 World Cup.

“There’s a couple of guys that've been on the team, Jordan Clarkson is a San Antonio guy and I’ve known him for a long time, and he spoke highly of the Philippines. I would love to mix it up with him and the guys here,” King said.

“If they wanna have me, I would love to do it. It would be an opportunity of a lifetime for me, and to do it for a place that I enjoy being, it’s just a double (win) for me,” he added.

The Bossing may have fallen short of steering his team to the next round but he made sure to have a compelling case for that possibility after exploding for 64 points including a perfect 20-of-20 clip from the charity stripe.

The strong performance, according to King, was just a product of just how much he is enjoying playing in the Philippines.

“The reason why I'm playing so well is because everything is so well in my life with me being here in the Philippines. I can't stress it enough--my accommodations, how the team's treating me, and the amount of fun I've been having. When I'm having fun and enjoying life, my game follows

While the 30-year-old King is drawing some comparison to a young Justin Brownlee, who is now the country’s first option as naturalized player, he might have to wait for his dream to be realized especially that aside from Brownlee and Clarkson, Gilas also has Ange Kouame and possibly Bennie Boatwright also waiting in the wings.

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