Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) president, Musa Kida has said that he is considering asking the National Basketball Association (NBA) rising star Bam Adebayo to represent the country at next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Adebayo’s late father was a Nigerian, making him eligible to compete for the country at Tokyo 2020.
The 23-year-old is unlikely to play for the United States (US) having earned a spot on the American pro- visional roster for the 2019 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup but then failing to make the final squad.
Kida suggested he would like to see Adebayo play for Nigeria instead.
“Having him in our national team is a possibility that we are considering as a federation ahead of the 2020 Olympics and beyond,” he told ESPN.
“We are excited about how far he has gone and what he can achieve in his career with D’Tigers if he chooses to play for Nigeria,” he said.
Adebayo currently plays for Miami Heat, who lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals earlier this week. He also featured in this year’s NBA All-Star Game in February.
Nigeria has competed in the Olympic basketball contest at two games so far, finishing 10th at London 2012 and 11th at Rio 2016.
The team earned a place at Tokyo 2020, now postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
