Jalen Green is an American of Filipino descent; so he belongs to the Filipino-American population of the United States. While his biological father’s identity is unknown, it is speculated that he is an African-American from that side of his family. On the other hand, his mother, Bree Purganan, is known to be of partial Filipino descent through her grandfather. His stepfather Marcus Green is of African-American extraction.
Jalen Green’s ethnicity is no secret to the NBA community as he is often introduced as the third player in the NBA of Filipino descent. Before him, there were Jordan Clarkson and Raymond Townsend.
While it is well-known that the Houston Rockets shooting guard is an American of Filipino ancestry, people continue to ask questions about his ethnicity as his Filipino heritage is known to be from his mother’s side. What about his father?
Where is Jalen Green From?
Jalen Green is an American from California. While he is of Filipino descent, he was born in the United States of America where he has lived all his life. Per records, he was born in Merced, California, but spent the earliest years of his life in Livingston, also in California.
Around the age of eight or nine, his family left Livingston for Fresno, a major city situated in the San Joaquin Valley of California. There, he attended San Joaquin Memorial High School where he excelled in basketball.
During his senior year of high school, he transferred to Prolific Prep in Nepa, California, where he helped his team become Grind Session World Champion. Though he got scholarship offers from multiple schools to play college basketball, he decided to forgo college basketball and opted to join the NBA G League. In all, Jalen Green regards California as his home state. He was born there and has lived there most of his life.
Together with his mom, Bree Purganan, @HoustonRockets draftee @JalenGreen shares what this moment means to him and the goals he's set heading on to his rookie season. 🎉 🇵🇭#RepublikaNgNBA pic.twitter.com/OJIC0ytYy4
— NBA Philippines (@NBA_Philippines) July 30, 2021
Jalen Green’s Ethnicity
The American professional basketball player belongs to the Filipino-American ethnic group in the United States. He has Filipino heritage from his mother’s side of the family. As reported in various quarters, his mother, Bree Puruganan, through her grandfather, is of partial Filipino descent.
Other sources have it that Green’s mom was born and raised in Ilocos Sur, Philippines. Over the years, it has become clear that Jalen Green has Filipino heritage from his mother’s side, which only makes up half of his ethnic background.
The other half has been subjected to speculations. This is because the identity of the NBA star’s biological father is unknown to the public. While some reports speculate that the man might have passed on, others claim he has never been involved in Jalen’s life.
However, based on the NBA star’s physical looks, it has been widely upheld that his biological father is an African American. If this is true, then it means that Jalen Green is partly Filipino American and partly African American. Marcus Green, who is widely known as his father, is only his stepfather. Per reports, Marcus is an African American.
The Houston Rockets shooting guard seems to be more in touch with the Filipino side of his ethnic heritage. In August 2022, it was reported that he traveled to Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
He had visited the nation as a part of the JG4 Manila Tour with Adidas. Although he had been to the country before, it was his first time visiting since he joined the NBA. Jalen who was visibly delighted about getting in touch with his Filipino roots told Rappler that it felt great to come back to the country as an NBA player. He had visited the country over three years earlier for the 2018 NBTC tournament.
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