One-time NBA champion Metta World Peace said on Saturday that his son Jeron Artest is interested in playing for the Philippine national basketball team Gilas Pilipinas.
“My son has been coming over to the Philippines. He’s very motivated. He’s working very hard,” he said during a press conference yesterday.
Artest is 16 years old and is the son of World Peace with Jennifer Ruth Uy Palma. Because his mother is Filipino, Artest may be able to play for the Philippine team as a natural-born Filipino.
“My son already applied for a Philippine passport. He’s hoping to make the [national] team someday,” World Peace said to SnippetMedia’s Kristina Maralit. But a report by ABS-CBN noted that the timing of Artest’s Philippine passport application is important.
Because of FIBA rules, a foreign-born Filipino will only be able to play as a natural-born citizen if he had a Philippine passport before turning 16 years old. If not, he can only join the national team as a naturalized citizen. A country can only have one naturalized player on the team.
The same ABS-CBN report said that whether or not Artest applied for a Philippine passport before his 16th birthday is unclear.
Artest was in the Philippines in 2015 and trained with the De La Salle University Green Archers. It was previously reported that Artest was open to playing for the University Athletic Association of the Philippines basketball team but during the press conference yesterday, World Peace said his son has received offers from Yale University and other Ivy League schools.
World Peace was part of the 2010 Los Angeles Lakers champion team that beat the Boston Celtics.
Yesterday, Gilas Pilipinas won its 3rd game in this year’s FIBA Asia-Cup against Qatar.
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