New Orleans Pelicans Center Jahlil Okafor has opted to represent Nigeria at the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan Basketballghana.com can confirm.
Okafor, born and raised in the US to a Nigerian father has represented the country of his birth at the FIBA Under 17 and FIBA Under 19 World Cups before switching to the West African nation.
This deepens the pool of players for the reigning Silver Medalist at the African Championship (AfroBasket) available for selection for the multi sport competition in late August.
The news comes on the back of Nigeria Basketball Federation announcing Golden State Warriors Associate Head Coach Mike Brown will lead D’Tigers to the Games.
Nigeria is the only African country that will compete in the Men’s Basketball category at the Games and has the chance to convince other NBA players like Victor Oladipo and Bam Adebayor to switch from the US.
Okafor was the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and has played for Philadelphia Sixers, Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans.
He is averaging 7.9 points and 4.3 rebounds in 15.6 minutes.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
