Globalization makes rule irrelevant

Believe it or not, only one out of 12 players on the Nigerian national basketball team playing in the Rio Olympics was born in Nigeria. The sole exception is 6-10 Shane Lawal who played at Oakland University, TNT KaTropa forward Kelly Williams’ alma mater, and Wayne State. Lawal, 29, was born in the city of Abeokuta and now plays for Barcelona in the Spanish league.

A player from Nigeria is former PBA import Champ Oguchi, born in Houston and an Illinois State product. Oguchi, 30, played two conferences for Meralco in the PBA. Two other Nigerians were born in Houston – Ben Uzoh of the University of Tulsa and Michael Umeh of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Two were born in California – Ekene Ibekwe of the University of Maryland and Josh Akognon of California State at Fullerton.

The others were born in different parts of the US – Arizona State’s Ike Diogu in New York, Virginia Military Institute’s Stan Okoye in North Carolina, Oklahoma’s Ebi Ere in Tulsa, Colorado State’s Andy Ogide in Florida, Syracuse’s Michael Gbinije in Connecticut and Georgia Tech’s Alade Aminu in Atlanta. Every player in the Nigerian lineup played in a US NCAA Division I school.

Four Nigerians are NBA veterans – Gbijine, Akognon, Diogu and Uzoh. Absent from the cast is center Festus Ezeli who was born in Nigeria, played at Vanderbilt and was on Golden State’s NBA champion squad two seasons back. Ezeli is now with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Ezeli could’ve played for Nigeria in Rio but opted out because the Nigerian federation wouldn’t guarantee his insurance in case of injury. He’s not the only NBA player who’s missing in action at the Olympics. The US is struggling in Rio without LeBron James, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, John Wall, Damian Lillard, Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis. Some are vacationing after a tough NBA season while others are recovering from injury. Other NBA absentees are Marc Gasol from Spain, Greivis Vasquez from Venezuela and Serge Ibaka from Spain.

Ibaka is from the Congo and has played for Spain as a naturalized citizen. His spot was taken over by Montenegro native Nikola Mirotic, a 6-10 first round Houston Rockets draft pick in 2011 now with the Chicago Bulls.

Mirotic, 25, isn’t the only naturalized basketball player in Rio. Another is Australia’s Kevin Lisch, a 6-2 guard who was born in Belleville, Illinois. He received his Australian citizenship only last March. Lisch, 30, also has an Italian passport so he had a choice of three countries to play for. FIBA will allow a player to suit up for only one country in a lifetime so Lisch isn’t able to switch.

Lisch’s father Rusty was a former NFL quarterback. After playing four seasons at St. Louis University, Lisch went to Australia to play as an import with the Perth Wildcats in 2009-10. He played four years in the Australian league then moved to Puerto Rico, France and Spain before returning down under. Lisch will play for the Sydney Kings, now under coach Andrew Gaze, this season. Another Australian player Dave Andersen is half-Danish. His father is Danish and his mother is Australian.

Croatia’s national team has three players who are foreign-born. Darko Planinic and Bojan Bogdanovic were born in Bosnia and Herzogovina while Rok Stipcevic was born in Slovenia. Bosnia and Herzogovina and Slovenia have their own national teams. Bogdanovic was the Miami Heat’s second round pick in 2011 and now plays for the Brooklyn Nets. At the 2014 FIBA World Cup, Croatia enlisted naturalized player Oliver Lafayette. Curiously, the Serbian team has a player Milan Macvan who was born in Croatia. Macvan, 26, was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ second round pick in 2011.

France is also a mix of players from different backgrounds. Tony Parker was born in Belgium to an American father Tony, Sr. and a Dutch mother Pamela Firestone. Parker has no drop of French blood so technically, he is a naturalized player. Charles Kahudi was born in the Congo so he, too, must be a naturalized player. But isn’t there a FIBA rule that restricts a national team to only one naturalized player?

Then there is NBA player Nicolas Batum whose late father was from Cameroon. Another French mainstay Nando de Colo was born to Portuguese migrants. Kim Tillie’s mother is Dutch and his father is French. His parents were both Olympic volleyball players from different countries. Boris Diaw’s father Issa is from Senegal and his mother Elisabeth Riffiod from France. Florent Pietrus and Mickael Gelabale were both born in Guadeloupe, a French territory in the Caribbean. While Guadeloupe is not recognized as a member nation in the IOC, it is set to compete as a separate country at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games.