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House Bills to naturalize NBA players McGee, Blatche filed

The move to beef up the Gilas Pilipinas squad for the coming 2014 FIBA World Cup has been bolstered with the filing of House Bills 3784 and 3783 by Antipolo City representative Robbie Puno, which are intended to naturalize NBA players JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche.

National team head coach Chot Reyes stated in his twitter account: House Bill #3784 McGee; #3783 Blatche. He was set to meet the PBA Board of Governors today to discuss plans for the preparations of the national team for the World Championships in Spain this coming August.

McGee, the seven-foot Denver Nuggets center, is only 26 years old and is notable for his athleticism. In 2011, he joined other NBA stars during the league’s lockout in an exhibition series here with a PBA Selection and the Smart Gilas national team dubbed the Ultimate All-Star Weekend. His impressive showing prompted talks about a possible naturalization, which was later on pursued by Puno. McGee expressed his desire to be part of the Philippine national squad when he replied to Puno, “would love to represent the Philippines if given the chance.”

The other candidate is Brooklyn Nets center forward Blatche, a 6’11” powerhouse with career norms of 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in eight seasons with the NBA. He is only 27 years old.

Current naturalized player Marcus Douthit, who played in two FIBA Asia Championships for Gilas, will be turning 34 years old in April.

Puno said naturalizing McGee and Blatche will strengthen the Philippines’ chances in reclaiming its dream as one of the world’s basketball greats during the FIBA World Cup, which will be held from August 30 to September 14 of this year. He urged Congress to approve the bills in order to have more options for the national team that made news last year after qualifying for the first time since 1986 in the World Championships. “We need to naturalize at least two players who will play at the same time for the Philippine team. This will avoid jeopardizing the entire basketball program in the event of an injury to any of our naturalized players,” said Puno, who was also the same author of the bill that naturalized Douthit.

House Bill 3784 seeks the naturalization of McGee, while House Bill 3783 urges Congress to naturalize Blatche.

Calling on his colleagues in the House and lawmakers in the Senate to act swiftly on the two measures, Puno said the two bills have now acquired a sense of urgency considering that the qualifiers to the FIBA World Cup would have to submit their respective initial lineup of players by May 30. “I call on Congress to contribute to the national cause of bringing pride, honor and glory to our country through our collective triumph in a sport that has always been the love and passion of most Filipinos, which is basketball,” added Puno.

If passed into law, the national men’s basketball program will certainly have a bright future with the naturalization of two young and legit NBA inside players.