Manny Pacquiao champions Jordan Clarkson for a future in the ring after tussle with Jonathan Kuminga: "I see potential"

Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson was ejected in the final minute of the Jazz’s 124-123 win against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. Clarkson got involved in a scuffle with Warriors youngster Jonathan Kuminga.

During the exchange, Clarkson squared up like he was ready to start a boxing match. The moment went viral on social media and even prompted a comment from retired Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao joked about how he sees the potential for Clarkson to have a future in the boxing ring.

“I see potential,” Pacquiao responded to a clip of the fight.

Jordan Clarkson is one of the only Filipino basketball players in the NBA. So his fellow countryman was obviously just having some fun with him. But this certainly isn’t the first time that Clarkson has gotten involved in a scuffle of this nature.

Clarkson was also coming off a loss versus Portland where he was fined $15,000 for throwing his headband into the stands. So his frustration has clearly been building up lately.

Despite his late ejection, Clarkson still finished with a team-high 22 points to go along with nine assists for Utah. Following the win, the Jazz improved to 15-12 and sixth in the Western Conference.

Jordan Clarkson and Jonathan Kuminga on their late-game scuffle

Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson and Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga's late-game scuffle

During their postgame interviews on Wednesday night, Jordan Clarkson and Jonathan Kuminga both shared their sides of the story regarding their late-game scuffle.

Kuminga insisted that he did nothing to warrant a strong reaction from Clarkson.

"I didn't have any intention to do anything," Kuminga said. "It was just funny to the point where I saw him square up right away and I'm like, ‘You were the one who fouled me. You don't get to do all that. It was just funny just seeing that. I didn't say anything. I didn't do nothing."

Meanwhile, Clarkson also insisted that he was just trying to hold Kuminga up following his hard foul.

“I tried to hold him up,” Clarkson said. “I tried to hold him. That was it."

Clarkson then explained the referees’ explanation for his Flagrant 2 foul and subsequent ejection.

“They just said it was a Flagrant 2 foul because of how I fouled him or something,” Clarkson said. “I didn’t make any contact with his face. I didn’t do anything. At the end of the day, I literally was trying to hold him up. But hey, the refs call what they call. They see what they see."

So all-in-all, it seems like the whole incident was just a big misunderstanding. Nonetheless, it still added some late-game excitement and resulted in a thrilling last-second win for the Jazz.

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