(UPDATE) JORDAN Clarkson has made history as the first Filipino American to play for a National Basketball Association (NBA) champion team.
Clarkson, whose mother Annette Tullao Davis is from Bacolor, Pampanga, played for 6 minutes for the New York Knicks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio Sunday morning in Manila.
New York was leading the series 4 games to 1 before it outlasted San Antonio, 94-90, to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
With the championship, New York ended a 53-year title drought, while Clarkson finally won a title in his 12th season in the league.
The 6-foot-5 guard made the Finals in 2018 with the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers, who fell to the Golden State Warriors.
Clarkson, who last suited up for Gilas Pilipinas at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila, shot two points and hauled down one rebound in Game 5.
His best performance came in Game 3, where he fired 10 points in just 13 minutes, adding three rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
New York fell to San Antonio, 115-111, in that game.
Clarkson’s title came at the expense of another Fil-Am player in Dylan Harper.
The 20-year-old rookie unleashed 25 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Clarkson was drafted 46th overall in the 2014 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, who traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The University of Missouri standout went on to have a solid first year, earning a spot in the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Clarkson was traded to the Cavaliers in the 2018 midseason and played one more season with Cleveland before moving to the Utah Jazz.
In his second season with the Jazz, Clarkson won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2021.
Clarkson left Utah last year for New York.
His father, Mike Clarkson, is an African American.
