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Bane is officially listed as American by the NBA but has Nigerian heritage and is yet to represent any nation on the international stage. Having qualified for their first Olympics at London 2012, Nigeria's basketball team went on to also compete at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, but missed out on the 2024 Games in Paris. "I would for sure," said the shooting guard when asked about the possibility of answering the call if it came. "We just need to get all the Nigerians together for the Olympics coming up in the next couple years and make something happen."
Nigeria’s Olumide Oyedeji has been elected Secretary General of the World Olympians Association after polling 55 votes out of the 106 valid votes cast. He secured 51.89 per cent of the votes to defeat Salvador Salguero of El Salvador and Liston Bochette of Puerto Rico to emerge as the first ever African to attain that position.. He takes over from Anthony Ledgard (OLY) of Peru.
Drafted 42nd overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2000 NBA draft, Olumide captained D’Tigers to their first All-Africa Games gold medal in 2011 and was co-captain of the Nigerian team that won the country’s first AfroBasket title in 2015.
James L. Edwards III: Mike Brown on getting to know OG Anunoby: Said he reached out to OG when he was the Nigerian coach trying to get him to play. "We sparked a relationship back then." Said they had lunch during previous seasons to talk about that.
The Nigerian has made his 3-point shooting a point of emphasis during his offseason workouts, putting up at least 500 shots in the gym on most days. He is also working on various other elements of his game, such as pick-and-rolls, ball handling and attacking the rim. "I have really improved greatly because I've been working on everything," Omoruyi said. "During the season, my coaches knew I could shoot, but that wasn't my game. They just wanted me to be a better player and work on what I'm good at, so I've been working on adding the 3-pointer to my game, and that is going well."
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The Nigeria native has long been devoted to promoting and developing the game of basketball throughout Africa. He founded the Giants of Africa organization in 2003 in hopes of creating opportunities through basketball and education. Since then, GOA has built over 37 basketball courts in 11 countries, had over 6,000 kids attend its camps that taught basketball and life skills, and impacted more than 40,000 youth across Africa. GOA was also highlighted in a documentary in 2016 and in December of 2023 celebrated its 20th anniversary in Toronto. The inaugural GOA Festival took place in Rwanda in the summer of 2023. It included eight days of programming with the likes of famed singers Davido and Tyla performing, more than 14,000 spectators in attendance, more than 2,000 youth participating and more than 50 paid internships. GOA said the event invested $1.5 million U.S. dollars to the local economy in 2023. The GOA Festival 2025 expects to induce $3 million of investment to the local economy over eight days at Kigali Sports City. There will be an opening ceremony, youth boys and girls basketball competitions concluding with All-Star games, sports business forums, coaches clinics, a fashion show, a concert and more. Ujiri is also excited to unveil Zaria Court, a new urban development project in Kigali that he has invested in that has a luxury hotel, restaurants, community space and athletic facilities.
When the United States lost its first two exhibition games against Nigeria and Australia, the panic alarms started blaring. Everyone was questioning whether the team was going to collapse. Was this going to be Popovich's greatest embarrassment as a coach? But, of course, he righted the ship. "He doubled down on how hard he wanted to coach them," Pierce said. "It started with KD, Draymond [Green], all the way down, Dame [Damian Lillard]. He had appropriate fear all along because he knew we weren't invincible." The superstars allowed Popovich to scream at them. They wanted Pop to be Pop. They welcomed it.
Following an extensive junior career with the national team of Turkiye and coming out of his rookie NBA season with the Philadelphia 76ers, 22-year-old Adem Bona discussed his international options. “It’s a huge consideration for me,” he replied to a question about playing for Turkiye at the senior level and a potential call-up by national team selector Ergin Ataman for EuroBasket 2025 during an end-of-season press conference on Sunday. “I’ve played for the national team for almost every age group since U16 to U20. So, the Turkish national team is very important to me. Also, I’m from Nigeria. The Nigerian national team is important to me,” he added, “I don’t think there’s any preference. I represent both countries equally, but there’s going to be a decision that has to be made during the summer.”
Antetokounmpo was born in Athens, Greece, and is of Nigerian descent. “I'm not aware of the comments,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said of the comments following the Milwaukee Bucks game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Fiserv Forum on Saturday night. "At the end of the day, I don't follow politics that much. And the little that I follow, I try to keep my political views to myself and my family. I'm here to, you know, win basketball games and not answer to non-basketball questions. But, I wish both candidates best of luck."
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“I’m trying to enjoy every single day with my teammates,” said Antetokounmpo, the son of Nigerian immigrants who was born in Athens and would later become the subject of a Disney movie. “I remember I came the first day and texted my wife, and I told her, ‘I cannot stop smiling.’ You know, just the atmosphere and the vibe, it’s just different.”
Chimezie Metu: The NOC and NBBF continue to take every opportunity to embarrass our athletes. Every year it's something new, this one might take the cake. Qualify and travel all the way to the Olympics just for this to happen. Have some shame please
The NOC and NBBF continue to take every opportunity to embarrass our athletes. Every year it's something new, this one might take the cake. Qualify and travel all the way to the Olympics just for this to happen. Have some shame please https://t.co/mj1Z3lXRdd
— Chimezie Metu™ (@Chimezie_Metu) July 26, 2024
That’s nine foreign players just in the first round — a stark contrast from even a year earlier, when the 37 picks after Wembanyama featured 33 Americans, two Canadians and just two others. And we’re likely to get more: Australian forward Johnny Furphy, Nigerian center Adem Bona, Spanish guard Juan Nunez, Swedish forward Bobi Klintman, Belgian guard Ajay Mitchell, Serbian forward Nikola Djurisic, Swedish guard Pelle Larsson and French forward Melvin Ajinca all seem likely to be selected in Thursday’s second round.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s foundation has now realized another vision and goal: a community center in Nigeria. The Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation (CAFF) recently partnered with the GEANCO Foundation to build a multi-use facility devoted to education, sports and enrichment opportunities for residents in a poor and underserved area of the country.