I never understood why Hakeem didnt play for Nigeria but instead played for the USA. I believe if Hakeem played for Nigeria he would have inspired many Nigerians to pick up a basketball and they would not be losing by 83 20 years later... I mean it's not like they are unathletic or not tall enough. He should have gone to play for Nigeria for his homeland, and inspire the youths of his country, instead he went and played for USA even though they didn't need him. Did he just want to win a gold? Olympics are about more than winning medals, it's about giving hope and inspiring your country. I think if Hakeem had played for Nigeria, we would be seeing more Nigerian NBA players. Do you think Hakeem regrets his decision?
IIRC Hakeem explored playing for his home country but he did not think they had enough players to qualify. From today's game, the announcers said that only three of Nigeria's players were actually born in Nigeria. Many were born in the good ole USA and played college ball here.
Maybe Dream should have never been born, so that Ewing could get a ring and inspire more Jamaicans. Maybe Dream should have gone to college up north, despite the cold, to inspire Nigerians to brave cold weather. Maybe Dream should not have blocked Starks, so that CBA players would be inspired by Starks' game winner.
This is the first time Nigeria has even qualified for the Olympics.Just imagine what kind of team they would have hobbled together 15 year's ago ... Wouldn't have been pretty,even with Dream on the team.
Dikembe was criticizing Hakeem about this back then, saying they should have formed a unified african team.
def would have been great promotion for the support..maybe they would have turned up better ball palyers by now
i wouldn't want my star player spending summers in some African tournament on a team that probably didn't even have a proper sports doctor back then.
really? he was naturalized in '93 and a three year waiting period was waived qualifying him for the '96 Dream Team.
Yea, because none of us are sick and tired of the hundreds of Dwight Howard topics being made a day. This thread sucks
Would that even be possible? Like would it even be legally possible for that team to be recognized by the international community to be able to compete in world tournaments? Still though, it would only be Hakeem and Mutombo + scrubs. Was Bol still playing around that time?
Even if Hakeem played for Nigeria, it wouldn't change the severe child malnutrition in sub-Saharan that prevents them from developing athletes.
Nigeria won a gold medal in soccer in the '96 olympics, but you dont see very good players now, the few great players from Nigeria, were mostly from that team.
