History was made in the NBA’s 75th season when the Utah Jazz visited the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.

For the first time in league history, two players of Filipino heritage played in the same game, as the Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson faced Houston’s Jalen Green. Clarkson’s grandmother is from the Philippines, as is Green’s grandmother.

 

To commemorate the occasion, the Rockets held their annual Filipino Heritage Night at the Toyota Center.  T-shirts with Green’s number 0 were given to each fan in attendance, placed on every seat in the arena.

Clarkson, who’s played in the league since the 2014-2015 season, said postgame that he’s been a part of a few of these heritage nights over the years.  As somewhat of a cultural icon in the Philippines, Clarkson realized and acknowledged the significance of both he and Green playing in the first game with two players representing the country.

“They love basketball,” Clarkson said of the Filipino community. “Just us two being here is super inspirational for the youth and every Filipino-American, every Filipino, anybody with Filipino blood. I feel like it’s just an amazing experience, something that can’t be done again because it was the first. Hopefully we see more.”

Clarkson scored 16 points off the bench for Utah while Green scored 13 starting for Houston as the Jazz defeated the Rockets 122-91.