Jordan Clarkson Narrates Story About Popular Basketball Court In Philippines
Feb 9, 2020, 3:43 PM | Updated: Feb 11, 2020, 5:02 pm
Jordan Clarkson #00 of the Utah Jazz drives the ball up the court against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on January 16, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson told a story about “The Tenement” which is a building in one of the poorest areas in Manila, Philippines.
Clarkson is the only Filipino American that is currently playing in the NBA. The Jazz guard stated that it is not his story but he is happy to tell it. The story about the Tenement was played on ESPN’s “SC Featured” where Clarkson was the narrator.
Here is the entire video about saving the Tenement.
This mural in the Philippines is bigger than basketball. @JordanClarksons tells the story behind the court, located in in one of the poorest areas of Manila. pic.twitter.com/fl5qnfueYX
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 9, 2020
The Tenement is a 57-year old housing project that has small rooms for people to live in but doesn’t have any running water. It costs 56 U.S. dollars per month to rent. More than 3,000 Filipino’s live in the establishment. Each room is only 21 square meters where several families live in one room. The one thing that gets the residents away from the bad things in that area is the basketball court that is next to the Tenement.
“Basketball is a religion to us,” said a resident of the Tenement.
Kids will get up at 5 a.m. every morning just to play basketball. It is a way for them to forget about everyday life living in the area. People even bring money and wager on basketball games that are played on that court and that gives people money to buy food for the day.
The building sits on a fault line that shifts every 400 years but it is due for a major movement. In 2010, the government condemned the Tenement and determined that the building should be torn down.
Residents were upset that they were being forced to leave. Some kids said that he doesn’t think he will ever play basketball again if they demolish the Tenement. But, as the government was getting ready to evict the residents, an idea was made. They all came together and painted murals on the court. The paintings were going viral. Clarkson decided to go to the Philippines in 2016 to see the court. The paintings on the court was the reason why eviction has been delayed.
One of the recent murals that was painted on the court is a picture of Kobe Bryant hugging his daughter Gianna at an NBA All-Star game. The two died in a helicopter crash with seven other people in Southern California on Sunday, January 26.
