Lebron Lopez will make his much-anticipated Gilas Pilipinas debut when the nationals take on Indonesia on Thursday at the AUF Sports & Cultural Center in Angeles, Pampanga.
Lopez, an athletic 6-foot-5 winger, has never played in the national team before.
At just 18 years young, he is the second youngest player to be fielded by the Gilas program. The youngest is still Jonas Tibayan, who suited up for Gilas in the 2016 SEABA Cup.
Making his seniors team debut is 6-foot-10 Geo Chiu, who was a pivotal piece during the last cycle of Gilas Youth.
Also returning to the national team after 10 years is Jordan Heading. Heading, a 6-foot-2 combo guard, last represented the country back in the 2011 FIBA Under-16 Asia Cup.
The trio will replace Javi Gomez de Liano, Mike Nieto, and Jaydee Tungcab.
Carried over from the South Korea game are Kai Sotto, Angelo Kouame, Isaac Go, Dwight Ramos, Justine Baltazar, William Navarro, Carl Tamayo, SJ Belangel, and RJ Abarrientos.
Tip-off for the battle of Southeast Asia is set at 6:00PM on Friday.
