page_title: Andray Blatche
section_title: National team career
hierarchical_section_title: Andray Blatche / National team career
caption_attribution_description: Andray Blatche Croatia and Philippines match at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014-08-30
context_page_description: Andray Maurice Blatche is an American-Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Tianjin Gold Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. He played high school basketball at Henninger High School and South Kent School before he was drafted in the second round of the 2005 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards.
  Born in New York and an American by birth, Blatche became a naturalized citizen of the Philippines in June 2014, enabling him to join the country's national basketball team.
context_section_description: In January 2014, Blatche was asked by the Gilas Pilipinas to take part as a naturalized player for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain and the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. On May 26, 2014, a bill granting Blatche's Filipino citizenship was approved by the Philippine Senate. On June 11, 2014, Blatche officially became a Filipino citizen upon the signing of Republic Act 10636 by Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.
  In August 2014, Blatche was named in the 2014 Philippine FIBA Basketball World Cup and Asian Games squad. He was later disqualified to play in the 2014 Asian Games due to eligibility issues cited by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), as he lacked the required three-year residency in the Philippines. In five games at the World Cup, he averaged 21.2 points, 13.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. With an 18-point, 14-rebound performance, Blatche helped the Philippines to their first World Cup win in 40 years, defeating Senegal 81-79 in overtime.
  In 2015, Blatche played for the Philippines at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship under new head coach Tab Baldwin. In nine games, he averaged 17.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. The following year, the team competed in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where in two games, he scored a total of 51 points.
  Blatche was expected to suit up for the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup but pulled out due to security concerns over the militant situation in the host country Lebanon. He was replaced by Christian Standhardinger as the Philippine team's naturalized citizen.
  On July 2, 2018, Blatche was involved in a brawl during the Philippines' 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifier against Australia.
caption: Blatche with the Philippine national team at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
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