• Over six seasons in the NBA, he has averaged 12.9 points with 5.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds.
• Members of the Nigeria national team include Josh Okogie of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Al-Farouq Aminu of the Orlando Magic, Chimezie Metu of the Spurs and Ekpe Udoh of the Utah Jazz.
After not being invited to play for Team USA, Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie is in the process of acquiring a Nigerian passport so he can play for Nigeria in the Olympics, multiple outlets reported Saturday.
Dinwiddie was averaging a career-best 20.6 points per game and 6.8 assists for the Nets before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. A Los Angeles-area native, he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons out of Colorado.
Nigeria qualified for the Olympics by posting the best finish among African teams at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. Scheduled for this summer, the Tokyo Olympics were rescheduled to 2021 because of the pandemic.
Dinwiddie, 27, moved into a starting role for the Nets this season after Kyrie Irving went down with a shoulder injury. Over six seasons in the NBA, he has averaged 12.9 points with 5.0 assists and 2.8 rebounds. He scored a career-best 41 points against the San Antonio Spurs in December.
The Nigerian national team is coached by Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Brown. Members of the team include Josh Okogie of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Al-Farouq Aminu of the Orlando Magic, Chimezie Metu of the Spurs and Ekpe Udoh of the Utah Jazz.
Meanwhile, Denver Nuggets plan to promote assistant general manager Calvin Booth to general manager, The Athletic reported Saturday.
The GM post was vacated earlier this month when Arturas Karnisovas left to become the Chicago Bulls’ new executive vice president of basketball operations.
Booth’s name surfaced in reports as a possible candidate to join Karnisovas in Chicago, but it appears he will remain in Denver as GM under president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.
Booth, who turns 44 in May, is a 10-year veteran player who joined the Nuggets as assistant GM in August of 2017. He had spent the previous four seasons in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ front office, after scouting for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2012-13.
Booth played for seven different teams as a player, including two stints with the Washington Wizards, where he crossed over with Connelly, who worked as a scout and then as director of pro personnel. Connelly also worked with Booth while with the Pelicans in 2012-13 before joining the Nuggets.