Heat’s Precious Achiuwa, KZ Okpala invited to Nigerian Olympic tryouts

The Nigerian national team has added a pair of Miami Heat players to its pool for the Tokyo Olympics.

Center Precious Achiuwa, who was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, has received an invitation to Nigeria’s ongoing pre-Olympic camp in San Francisco, as has forward KZ Okpala, whose parents are from Nigeria.

Already on the roster for Nigeria is Heat two-way guard Gabe Vincent, who represented the country at the 2019 World Cup.

Nigeria, like the United States, is one of eight countries that have pre-qualified for the Olympics. Both national teams will train in advance of the Games in July in Las Vegas, where they will meet in a July 10 exhibition.

The Nigerian national team, known as the D’Tigers, is coached by Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown.

Achiuwa, Okpala and Vincent are three of the 13 NBA players joining several others in competing for the 12 spots on the Nigeria Olympic team.

Of adding Achiuwa, the 2020 first-round draft pick out of the University of Memphis, Brown told ESPN, “You look at Precious Achiuwa from the Miami Heat, he’s on track to be a fantastic player and he went through a period where he was starting for them down there. I could go on and on in naming the contributions that each guy is bringing to the table for their teams, which is exciting for me, and it should be exciting for all of Nigeria, with the impact that they’re having in the NBA, because they are the future of the program.”

The Olympics, which open July 23, come in direct conflict with the Heat’s summer program, an opportunity that Achiuwa and Okpala lacked prior to this past season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The pair are two of only five players currently under guaranteed contract to the Heat for 2021-22 (with Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler the others) .

The Heat featured seven players this season with Nigerian heritage.

Adebayo and guard Victor Oladipo both are part of the United States pool for the Olympics, with Adebayo accepting an Olympic invitation this week from USA Basketball and Oladipo unable to compete due to season-ending quadriceps surgery.

Others from the Heat’s season-ending roster with Nigerian ancestry are Andre Iguodala, Trevor Ariza, Vincent, Achiuwa and Okpala.

“I think we just all embrace where we’re from. I joke with Precious, he’s the authentic one of the bunch,” Iguodala said prior to the Heat being swept out of the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks.

“I joke that he’s the authentic, authentic one, but we all embrace where we’re from. We’ve got a few guys on the team that’ll be playing for the national team and Coach Mike Brown is going to do an incredible job. And I’ll be watching those guys.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said it added a unique element to his team’s roster.

“That’s something that they’ve talked about, having a Team Nigeria in Miami,” he said. “I think it’s cool. It’s just one of those random occurrences, but it shows you how much basketball has grown. The next Basketball Without Borders trip that is in Nigeria, I want to be a part of that one.”

Among other NBA players invited to Nigeria’s camp are OG Anunoby, Jahlil Okafor, Monte Morris, Udoka Azubuike, Miye Oni, Josh Okogie, Al-Farouq Aminu, Jordan Nwora and Chimezie Metu.

Nigeria is seeking to become the first team from Africa to win an Olympic medal in men’s basketball.

Upon arrival to Nigeria’s training camp, players were presented with shirts that featured a quote from Nelson Mandela that reads, “The world will not respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The Black people of the world need Nigeria to be great as a source of pride and confidence.”