It became an easy decision for Bennie Boatwright to undergo naturalization for the Philippines following his PBA stint with San Miguel Beer.
The 27-year-old said that the experience playing for the league’s winningest franchise, which culminated with a Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup title, played a factor in committing to apply for Filipino citizenship for Gilas Pilipinas.
“If I didn’t play here, it would’ve been [hard],” he said.
“But now that I’ve played here and experienced the people and all the love, it’s an easy decision.”
Boatwright said as much Friday, when he watched the Beermen’s eventual 112-103 win over Converge in Philippine Cup play at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The former USC Trojan is currently in town to take care of his naturalization process, indeed good news for a program that’s looking to expand the men’s team’s naturalized pool that’s bannered by Justin Brownlee.
Boatwright said that agreeing to do all this, which all began with practically an endorsement by some of his teammates, was a ‘no-brainer.’
“It started with some of the players, they were mentioning me. After we played Ginebra, Boss Al (Chua) asked me whether I was interested and I said for sure, and ever since then, the ball has been rolling,” he recalled.
“It was kind of a no-brainer, you know,” furthered the sweet-shooting forward from Los Angeles, who recently played in the Chinese Basketball Association.
“The experience of playing here in the Philippines? You can’t say no to that.”
He knows that it could be a long process but Boatwright is nonetheless excited to buckle down to work with Gilas in the future.
“Everybody’s bringing me up to date on what’s going on and I’m excited. I’mma bring my best foot forward and I’m excited to play,” he added.
