Eric Gordon will suit up for the Bahamas National Basketball Team, even though he helped Team USA win gold in 2010 at the FIBA World Cup.
Since then, Gordon has reportedly wanted to make the switch to the Bahamas team as his mother hails from the region.
Bahamas basketball site 10th Year Seniors confirmed the news on Monday.
“USA Basketball granted Gordon’s release and FIBA approved his change of country representation due to Article 22 of its Internal Regulations,” they tweeted.
“Article 22 prohibits a player from changing national team allegiance once he has participated in a major FIBA competition. Gordon previously competed for the USA in the 2010 FIBA World Cup. The article can be amended at FIBAs discretion if the player is joining a developing national team program and the move is deemed “in the best interest of basketball.”
Gordon immediately joined the team and participated in the second friendly game in Puerto Rico against the Kansas Jayhawks on Monday.
He was the team’s second-highest point scorer with 12 and grabbed two assists in the contest.
Fellow NBA player Buddy Hield was the team’s best as he recorded 19 points, four rebounds to go with four assists.
Deandre Ayton and Kai Jones are two other NBA players on the roster that will be aiming to take the Bahamas to the 2024 Olympics by pre-qualifying at the FIBA Americas games.
These games will take place on August 14-20 in Santiago del Estero and La Banda, Argentina.
Argentina, Bahamas, Cuba and Panama are in Group A while Chile, Colombia, Virgin Islands and Uruguay are in Group B.
The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals and the five teams that win the pre-qualifying tournaments advance to next year’s FIBA Olympic qualifying tournaments in July.
The winners of those will earn a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
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