Sports personality reveals Justine Baltazar scouted by teams in Japan and US

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

After an impressive campaign with the Gilas Pilipinas in both the 2021 FIBA Asia qualifiers and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT), emerging superstar forward Justine Baltazar caught the attention of some overseas teams.

During Snow Badua’s show on Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas’ Snowball, Pampanga’s sports coordinator Alan Trinidad bared that Baltazar is already eyed by some professional teams in Japan and the US.

Three teams in the Japan B. League already inquired about Baltazar while the Chicago team in the NBL-USA also expressed their interest in the young forward.

“Tatlong teams ang nagtatanong tungkol sa kanya sa B.League. Kahit sa NBL USA, kinukuha siya. Yung Chicago na team nila doon,” Trinidad said.

However, according to multiple sources, Baltazar is still fully committed to Gilas until 2022 after all of their international stints are done.

After their campaign at Belgrade, Serbia during the OQT, Gilas is eyeing to go back to their training bubble and prepare for the next round of the FIBA Asia qualifiers.

Baltazar was one of those young Gilas cadets who blossomed in the past two months and showed improvements in his offensive game especially his three-point shooting.

The De La Salle Green Archer also showed different facets to his game and averaged an impressive 7.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game in his FIBA outing.