On draft night of last year, Jalen Green made history before he even scored his first NBA basket. The 6’4″ guard was taken second overall by the Houston Rockets which made him not only the third player of Filipino descent to be drafted, but also the highest selected Asian-American in league history.
Green first caught the basketball world’s attention during his prep years at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno where he played varsity all four years. Not only was his athletic ability way beyond his fellow peers, he was an offensive juggernaut that averaged over thirty points a game his final two seasons. After being selected to the the McDonald’s All-American Game his senior year, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic caused his high school career to come to a swift end.
Despite being a five-star recruit and having over twenty Division-1 offers, Green opted out of the usual one-and-done route and instead signed with the G-League Ignite for $500,000. Playing alongside fellow high school phenom, Jonathan Kuminga, he was able to prepare for the pace of the NBA as he played many players who had years of experience. In his lone season with the Ignite, he averaged seventeen points in addition to four rebounds a night.
When Green joined the Rockets the hype grew as many Filipino fans around the world were excited to see another Pinoy in the NBA alongside Jordan Clarkson. Despite Green not being able to represent their national team for now due to him representing the USA in a U-18 tournament, the pride remains mutual.
When asked about his heritage in an interview with ESPN Green said, “I’m excited to take that out there and just represent and put on for the Philippines and can’t wait to meet everybody and see the fans. It’s going to be exciting.”
Unfortunately for Green, his rookie season got off to rough start as he only converted on 38% of his shots to score fourteen points a game. Though after the All-Star break in February, his stats skyrocketed as he began to average twenty one points and boosting his field goal percentage to 47%.
Though in the past two weeks, Green took his hot-streak to a whole new level as he has made at least five three in the past five games. It does not end there, in each of the past three games he has scored over thirty points include a career high thirty-three.
At just the age of twenty, the sky is the limit for Jalen Green. With the unconditional support of the Filipino community and a potential release by FIBA that would give him clearance to represent the Philippines with Jordan Clarkson. The face of Filipino basketball for years to come will be Jalen Green.
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