Nigerian-American and Brooklyn Nets Guard Spencer Dinwiddie is in the process of acquiring a Nigerian passport to be eligible to play for the D’Tigers at the 2021 Summer Olympics Games.
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Dinwiddie appeared to confirm his intention Saturday, writing in response to an online report by The Athletic on Twitter: “Well, now y’all know lol.”
Dinwiddie was born on April 6, 1993 to a Nigerian father Malcolm Dinwiddie.
He played college basketball for the Colorado Buffaloes and earned first-team all-conference honours in the Pac-12 as a sophomore in 2013.
He missed most of his junior year after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Dinwiddie recovered and was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft.
After two seasons with the Pistons, he joined the Nets in December 2016. In December 2018 he signed a three-year contract extension with the Nets.
In spite of finishing 10th in All-Star voting for Eastern Conference guards and recording a career-high 41 points in December, Dinwiddie was not on the list of Team USA finalists.
By obtaining a Nigerian passport, Dinwiddie will become eligible to compete with the country in the 2021 Summer Olympics.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Tokyo Olympics were scheduled to be held in July and August, but they were postponed until 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
D’Tigers team includes NBA players Al-Farouq Aminu, Josh Okogie, Chimezie Metu and former NBA forward Ekpe Udoh.
The current Golden State Warriors assistant coach and former Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike Brown was hired by the national squad in February.
Nigeria qualified for the 2021 Olympics by being the top-placing African team in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
NAN reports that when the NBA season was suspended more than a month ago, but Dinwiddie was averaging 20.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.
He started the season coming off the bench, but Dinwiddie, 27, moved into a starting role when Kyrie Irving suffered a shoulder injury.
Dinwiddie has started 49 of 64 games for Brooklyn this season.