With Cameron Clark suddenly not available, Blackwater is bringing in George King to serve as its import in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.
Multiple sources said Clark, who played for NLEX in 2022 and San Miguel Beer in 2023, will no longer fly to the country for another tour of duty due to “serious family problems.”
With that, the Bossing are bringing in King to serve as reinforcement, replacing the inefficient Ricky Ledo, who played only two games before suffering an ankle injury.
“We’re very, very disappointed. It is one of those things that you do not expect,” said Cariaso, who had high hopes with Ledo after playing three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association.
He wrapped up his PBA stint with dismal averages of 9.0 points on a sour 15.8 percent shooting with 8.5 rebounds and two assists in two games.
“We felt like we got someone who can carry us and turn things around and be the guy who could score at the end of the shot clock.”
“Maybe that ankle injury got too much for him, but we do not have the time to kind of wait. We do not have the time to wait so we needed to make a move quickly and make an adjustment and that is what we did.”
King, however, could help Blackwater put its import woes behind.
After all, King is listed at 6-foot-6 who played briefly for the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks, and had numerous stints in Europe.
His most recent stint was in Tel Aviv in which he reinforced Ironi Ness Ziona in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.
A second-round pick of the Phoenix Suns in 2018, the 30-year-old journeyman already agreed to reinforce the Bossing late Sunday. In fact, he is already on his way to Manila and will arrive on Wednesday.
He is expected to suit up when the Bossing face Justin Brownlee and Ginebra on Friday.