New Telegraph

NBBF rules out automatic shirts for NBA Stars

Nigeria Basketball Federation has moved to quell speculation about the makeup of Nigeria’s final squad to the Tokyo Olympics with many fearing the men’s and women’s team could be populated by foreign-born players with no connection to the country amid a spate of recent announcements by NBA players switching their international allegiance to Nigeria because of the Olympics.

 

Denver Nuggets guard Monte Morris on Friday became the latest American committing to playing for Nigeria internationally as a naturalised player, joining the Brooklyn Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie who made the switch a year ago  While the announcement elicited a great deal of excitement in some quarters, a significant number of fans expressed fears the developments could lead to bad blood in the team among players who have been there from the beginning and may now lose their spots due to the defections.

 

Yet others believe the moves demeans Nigeria and portrays the country as desperate for castoffs unable to make the American team and who are now using Africa’s top-ranked team as a means of fulfilling their ambitions to play at the Olympics. They believe that only players with parental connections should represent the national team.

 

NBBF president Musa Kida has, however, moved to allay any fears of foreign-born players waltzing into the team even though FIBA rules allow a quota for naturalized players regardless of their connections to a country

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