For the first time ever, The Bahamas has three players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) committed to making a run at major international qualification, possibly reaching as high as the Olympics in 2024.
Phoenix Suns' center DeAndre Ayton has pledged his commitment to play for The Bahamas in a 2024 Olympics push this month, joining Chavano "Buddy" Hield and Kai Jones who have both been a part of the process for a couple years now.
The FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments will be held from August 12-20 for 40 teams from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. They will all battle for spots for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
The tournaments will feature 28 nations that competed in the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers but failed to qualify for this year's world cup, as well as the highest-ranked national teams that did not qualify for the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers.
For this region, The Bahamas will battle against seven other nations, with just the winner of the tournament joining the 19 FIBA Basketball World Cup teams to compete in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments that will take place from July 2-7, 2024. The others from this region are Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Uruguay and the US Virgin Islands. Argentina is the cream of the crop, ranked number two in the Americas behind the United States and number four in the world according to the latest FIBA World Rankings presented by Nike.
The other players in the training camp for The Bahamas ahead of the Olympic pre-qualifying tournaments are Dominick Bridgewater, Jaraun "Kino" Burrows, Garvin Clarke, Kadeem Coleby, Radshad Davis, Sammy Hunter, Danrad Knowles, Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn, Willis Mackey Jr., Franco Miller, Travis Munnings, Kentwan Smith, David Nesbitt, AJ Storr and Mychel Thompson.
"After being drafted, my focus was on establishing myself in the league (NBA) and setting my family up for the future. Now, I'm excited to be back with the national team and competing for The Bahamas," said Ayton, making his first appearance with the national team since 2016. "My expectation is to win – win this tournament and compete next summer for an Olympic berth. I'm excited to be back. This tournament is the first step in qualifying for the Paris Olympics. I'm always proud to represent where I'm from. I can't wait to put on that Bahamas jersey and compete for my country."
From the training camp roster, it is being hailed as the best Bahamian basketball team ever assembled, and they will certainly have their work cut out for them later this month. The Bahamas is in Group A with Argentina, Cuba and Panama, and they will play at the Ciudad de Santiago del Estero Stadium in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. The Bahamas' first game will be against Cuba on Monday August 14 at 6:10 p.m. On Wednesday August 16 at 8:10 p.m., they will face Argentina.
Chile, Colombia, the US Virgin Islands and Uruguay will compete in Group B at the Vicente Rosales de La Banda Stadium in La Banda, Argentina. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals and the winners of the semifinals games will advance to the final, set for Sunday August 20 at 8:10 p.m at the Ciudad de Santiago del Estero Stadium.
"I'm excited by all of it. The growth of the program, the NBA guys who are on board, the vets who have stayed committed and the young guys we have coming up," said Ayton. "We want The Bahamas on the map - to continue growing this program, to be seen as one of the top teams in the Americas and the world.
"There's nothing like competing for your country, especially being from a small Island. Being around teammates, coaches, staff and all the family and friends who are cheering for The Bahamas, that's a beautiful thing. I'm proud to represent The Bahamas and I want my son to see me in that uniform."
Ayton said he's always willing and proud to express his Caribbean background and upbringing.
"I've always proudly represented where I'm from. In everything we do, my family and I are always adding some island flavor and sharing a little piece of home," said Ayton. "I love having partners like Puma who collaborate with me to showcase my heritage in meaningful ways."
The starting center is a significant addition to the national team program. As mentioned, they have their work cut out for them. The tournament features eight national teams that participated in the Americas qualifiers for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup which is set for August 25 to September 10, in three nations - the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
Out of the eight, Argentina is the highest ranked team at number two in the Americas and number four in the world. Uruguay is at number nine in the region and number 46 in the world. Panama is at number 10 in the region and number 51 in the world. Colombia is at number 11 in the region and number 52 in the world. The Bahamas is next at number 12 in the region and number 56 in the world. The US Virgin Islands is at number 13 in the region and number 59 in the world. Chile is at number 14 in the region and number 66 worldwide. Finally, Cuba is at number 15 in the region and number 70 worldwide.
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