At age 20, Jalen Green is now molding himself as a relevant figure in the international basketball community.
As such, the Houston Rockets young sensation is planning to join the East Asia Super League this year as an ambassador and investor (h/t insider Marc Stein).
Founded in 2016, EASL is a major sports tournament that features Asian nation clubs battling for the basketball crown. It is set to start its inaugural season in October from the honors of FIBA.
The No. 2 overall pick of the last year’s draft will join Baron Davis, Metta Sandiford-Artest and Shane Battier in cultivating the league by sharing identical roles.
In a statement from Stein, Green said that he is delighted to be part of the EASL in nurturing basketball around the Pacific and establishing connections with his Pinoy and Asian supporters.
Green, who has traces of Filipino roots from his mother, is a widely-known cager in the Philippines — a basketball-crazed country.
“I just want to put the Asian basketball community on the map,” Green said, expressing hope that he can be “an inspiration for the next generation of hoopers in Asia.”
“Especially in the Philippines,” Green added, “because I have background there.”
Upon being drafted from the G League Ignite last 2021 Draft, Green became the third player in league history of Filipino descent, joining Raymond Townsend and Utah Jazz high scoring Sixth Man Jordan Clarkson.
In his first season stepping in the NBA hardwood and representing the promising Houston club, Green had an average of 17.3 points, 3.4 boards, 2.6 assists in 54 percent true shooting mark across 67 games, thus earning himself an All-Rookie First Team honors.
