Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie is preparing to represent his country. However, despite being a Los Angeles native, that country happens to be Nigeria. Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Dinwiddie is going through the process of acquiring a Nigerian passport in order to play with the national team in international competition.
Dinwiddie won't be the first NBA player to play for Nigeria as the team's roster already features NBA players Josh Okogie, Al-Farouq Aminu and Chimezie Metu as well as former NBA players Ekpe Udoh and Ike Diogu. The team also happens to be coached by Mike Brown, former head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers and current associate head coach for the Golden State Warriors.
Despite a career year where he averaged career-highs across the board with 20.6 points, 6.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for the Nets, the 6-foot-5 point guard failed to get an invite to the U.S. Men's National Team.
With the Tokyo Olympics being delayed until 2021, we won't see much of the Nigerian national team but they will compete in FIBA competitions across the globe. Despite their roster full of NBA players, Nigeria ranks 23rd in the FIBA men's national team rankings but is the top team in Africa.
Nigeria also happens to be the only African team to ever qualify for the Summer Olympics through the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The team finished 11th and 10th respectively in the last two Summer Olympics and 17th in the 2019 FIBA World Cup — their first appearance since 2006.
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