In January 2014, the
Philippines reportedly wanted
JaVale McGee and
Andray Blatche to be naturalized as a
Filipino for them to be able to represent the country in the upcoming
World Cup. Gilas Pilipinas coach
Chot Reyes confirmed the development. Antipolo representative Robbie Puno filed House Bills 3784 and 3783, the naturalization bills of
JaVale McGee and
Andray Blatche. On June 11, 2014, Blatche officially became a Filipino citizen with President
Benigno Aquino III signing the relevant legislation. Under
FIBA eligibility rules, Blatche became eligible to play for the national squad as a naturalized player with only one player designated as such only allowed to be a part of any national team.
Greg Slaughter,
Jared Dillinger,
Marcio Lassiter and
Paul Lee were invited to join the training pool of the national squad and to be part of the 18-man pool. Lassiter and Slaughter expressed gratitude for the decision but declined the invitation because they thought that the 12-man roster that played on the
2013 FIBA Asia Championship were the ones who were deserving to play because they worked hard and helped the team to advance to the
World Cup. The 18-man squad was decreased to a 16-man squad. Later on,
Jay Washington was added to the pool to form a 17-man squad.
Larry Fonacier, from the 2013 FIBA Asia roster, backed out of the training pool because of different foot and back injuries that had plagued him the past two years. The 17-man squad was decreased to 16 as Chot Reyes announced the 16-man squad. On August 18, 2014, the final 12-man roster was announced. ==Uniform==