MANILA, Philippines -- The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) is working double time to get the Los Angeles Lakers' rising star Jordan Clarkson in Gilas lineup for the 2015 FIBA Men's Championship.
Clarkson's documents are now almost ready for submission to the FIBA Central Board.
"At the moment, 95% complete. ASAP (as soon as possible) ang timetable. But we can't send partial-partial lang. Kailangan isang padala and complete," Barrios told Philstar.com on Friday.
The SBP official is hopeful that FIBA will clear Clarkson to play for Gilas as a regular player and subsequently get the Lakers' approval.
"We put in a lot of hard work on it," Barrios said.
He also did not deny whether the report that reached Philstar.com that SBP President Manny V. Pangilinan will fly to Los Angeles, California to meet the Lakers' General Manager Mitch Kupchak and negotitate for Clarkson's possible release is true or not.
"I heard about that but I'm not privy kung tuloy," Barrios said.
The FIBA Asia Men's Championship in Changsha, China will run from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3 and will run smack to the Lakers' annual Media Day in Los Angeles on Sept. 30.
The Lakers knew about Clarkson's trip here and but they kept mum on his availability for international play.
"We are aware that he is having conversations with the national team and other governing organizations, but beyond that we have no additional information or comment at this time," wrote John Black, the Lakers Vice President for Public Relations, in an email to US-based Philstar.com's contributor Homer Sayson on Thursday.
The SBP was surprised when Clarkson's father said that it would be best for his son to skip Gilas this year and instead focus on his sophomore season, the last of his two-year rookie contract with the Lakers.
READ: Clarkson's dad says son won't play for Gilas
Clarkson, however, stood firm with his intentions to represent the country in international competitions after he spoke with his father in an overseas call.
READ: Clarkson's clarifies dad's statement, reiterates desire to play for Gilas
The Lakers' shooting guard attended his second practice with Gilas on Thursday night. He stayed behind to attend to his commitments as Smart endorser when the national team left Friday noon for Taipei to compete in the annual William Jones Cup.
Clarkson will fly to Taipei on Sunday in time to watch Gilas' opening game against Chinese Taipei-A set at 7 p.m. He is scheduled to fly back to US on Sept. 3.