Nigeria’s hopes of returning to Olympic basketball could receive a significant boost as Orlando Magic shooting guard Desmond Bane has expressed interest in representing the country ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, saying he wants to “make something happen” by recruiting fellow NBA players to support D’Tigers, with the 27-year-old, who is officially listed as American by the NBA but has Nigerian heritage and is yet to feature for any national team, telling BBC Sport that he would answer the call if it came, adding, “We just need to get all the Nigerians together for the Olympics coming up in the next couple years and make something happen,” as he revealed discussions with other NBA players including Indiana Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith and Los Angeles Lakers’ Gabe Vincent, noting, “I’d talk to Aaron Nesmith… Me and Gabe Vincent also talked about it a little bit. We need to do it,” while Nigerian-born Houston Rockets guard Josh Okogie is already an international for Nigeria and other Nigerian-linked NBA players include Precious Achiuwa and Adem Bona, even as Nigeria, currently ranked 50th in the world and seventh in Africa by Fiba, face a tough road to qualification after missing the Paris 2024 Games, with possible routes to LA 2028 including the 2027 Fiba World Cup in Qatar or a separate African Olympic qualifying tournament, as Bane, speaking during the NBA Global Games in Berlin and London, also praised the NBA’s growing global reach, saying, “I think it’s great… there’s so many talented players everywhere.”
