Nigeria men's national basketball team

The Nigeria men's national basketball team represents Nigeria in international basketball, and it is governed by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

In March 2021, the global governing body FIBA ranked Nigeria as Africa's top men's basketball nation. After the 2016 Olympic Men's Basketball Tournament in Rio, Nigeria was ranked 16th in the FIBA World Rankings, making them the top climber in FIBA rankings from 2015.

Nigeria is the only African nation to beat the United States. Nigeria is also the first African team to qualify for the Summer Olympics through the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. This was accomplished at the 2012 Event when Nigeria beat the world elite teams of Lithuania and Greece. In 2015, Nigeria won its first crown as basketball champion of Africa.

History The history of basketball in Nigeria goes as far back as the late 1950s when Walid Zabadne served as the first basketball coach to train Nigerians. At the time, Nigeria's only basketball court was situated in the Syrian Club in Lagos. Walid Zabadne continued teaching young Nigerians to become basketballers and when Nigeria's basketball federation was organized, he took them to several basketball competitions across Africa. In view of his role as the pioneer of basketball in Nigeria, Walid Zabadne has been deemed "father of Nigerian basketball". Also worthy of note is that Zabadne was later made the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation.

Nigeria's national basketball team joined FIBA in 1964. Since the mid-1990s, the team has enjoyed unprecedented success, due to an increasing amount of talents from Nigeria as well as an orchestrated recruitment of American college and professional players of Nigerian descent. The D'Tigers (as the team is nicknamed) qualified for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, marking only the second time in the country's history that they qualified to the FIBA World Cup. Team Nigeria usually plays its home games at the 3,000-capacity Indoor Sports Hall in Lagos.

2006 FIBA World Championship Nigeria took part in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan. They were drawn in Group A with Argentina, France, Lebanon, Serbia and Montenegro, and Venezuela. They surprisingly finished third in Group A, then were narrowly defeated by Germany in the Round of 16. Overall they finished 14th, as they achieved the same record as the defending world champion Serbia and Montenegro.

2012 Summer Olympics Nigeria competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. They finished the group play with a 1–4 record, with their lone victory coming against Tunisia in their Olympics debut. The team's roster, assembled by coach Ayodele Bakare, primarily comprised former college basketball players.

2016 Summer Olympics Nigeria qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics tournament as champions of AfroBasket 2015. They finished at the bottom of Group B, winning one game against Croatia and losing four games. The team entered the 2016 games with several injured players and little financial support from the Nigerian government.

2020 Summer Olympics As the top African team at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Nigeria qualified for their third consecutive Olympics berth for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The team, which included seven NBA players and was led by Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown, was called up for training in the United States in June 2021. D'Tigers defeated the United States 90–87 during an exhibition game in Las Vegas on 10 July. The victory, described as an "upset", was the first for an African team against the United States.

Team honours and achievements Intercontinental FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup Bronze: 2013, 2016 Basketball at the Commonwealth Games Fourth-place: 2006 Continental AfroBasket Gold Medal: 2015 Silver Medal: 1997, 1999, 2003, 2017 Bronze Medal: 1995, 2005, 2011 All Africa Games Gold Medal: 2011 Bronze Medal: 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015

Competitive record Olympic Games Olympics recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1964Did not qualifyAfroBasket served as qualification 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012Preliminary round10th514 201611th514 202010th303 2024Did not qualify20213211202

FIBA World Cup FIBA World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPosition 1967Did not qualifyAfroBasket served as qualification 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998Preliminary round13th523 2002Did not qualify 2006Round of 1614th624 2010Did not qualify 2014 2019Preliminary round17th53212102 2023Did not qualify1055 2027To be determinedIn Progress 2031To be determined3/16167922157

AfroBasket YearRoundPosition 1965Did not enter 1968 1970 1972Classification stage12th606 1974Did not enter 1975 1978Classification stage6th523 1980Preliminary round11th514 1981Did not enter 1983 1985Classification stage7th633 1987Classification stage8th413 1989Did not enter 1992Classification stage5th642 1993Did not enter 1995Third place642 1997Runners-up651 1999Runners-up752 2001Classification stage5th651 2003Runners-up752 2005Third place862 2007Quarter-finals5th651 2009Quarter-finals5th972 2011Third place761 2013Quarterfinals7th752 2015Champions761 2017Runners-up642 2021Round of 1612th422 2025Quarter-finals6th431Total1 Title20/311227943

FIBA AfroCan YearRoundPosition 201911th place11th303 20238th place8th633 2027To be determinedTotal2/3936

African Games

1973 – ? 1987 – ? 1995 – 1999 – 2003 – 2007 – 2011 – 2015 –

FIBA Stanković Continental Champions' Cup

2013 – 2016 –

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games recordYearRoundPosition 2006Semi-Final4th523 2018Quarter-Final6th404Total 2/2 4th 9 2 7

Team Current roster Roster for the AfroBasket 2025.

Notable players Several players of the Nigeria national team have had success playing for professional teams, in the NBA, or in Europe, including: Julius Nwosu Akin Akingbala Peter Aluma Aloysius Anagonye Tunji Awajobi Ike Diogu Obinna Ekezie Ebi Ere Benjamin Eze Ekene Ibekwe Ike Iroegbu (born 1995) Gani Lawal Michael Olowokandi Olumide Oyedeji Ime Udoka Jeff Varem Al-Farouq Aminu Festus Ezeli

Hakeem Olajuwon never played for Nigeria at the international senior level, and would eventually play for the United States, after becoming a US citizen in 1993.

Past rosters 2009 African Championship: finished 5th among 16 teams

Akin Akingbala, Aloysius Anagonye, Chamberlain Oguchi, Deji Akindele, Michael Efevberha, Michael Umeh, Josh Akognon, Ebi Ere, Ejike Ugboaja, Gabe Muoneke, Jayson Obazuaye, Benson Egemonye (Coach: John Lucas II)

2011 African Championship: finished 3rd among 16 teams

Solomon Tat, Ime Udoka, Abubakar Usman, Chinedu Onyeuku, Ike Ofoegbu, Michael Umeh, Stanley Gumut, Derrick Obasohan, Ejike Ugboaja, Ezenwa Ukeagu, Jayson Obazuaye, Olumide Oyedeji (Coach: Ayo Bakare)

2012 Summer Olympics: finished 10th among 12 teams

Tony Skinn, Ekene Ibekwe, Ike Diogu, Al-Farouq Aminu, Ade Dagunduro, Chamberlain Oguchi, Koko Archibong, Richard Oruche, Ejike Ugboaja, Derrick Obasohan, Alade Aminu, Olumide Oyedeji (Coach: Ayo Bakare)

2020 Olympic roster: A 15-player roster was announced on 6 July 2021. The final squad was released on 20 July 2021.

Head coaches Vladislav Lučić 1975–1980 Sam Vincent 2004–2006 Sani Ahmed 2006 Robert McCullum 2007 John Lucas II 2009 Sani Ahmed 2010, 2013 Ayo Bakare 2011–2014 William Voigt 2015–2017 Alexander Nwora 2017–present Associate Headcoach from 2020–present. Mike Brown 2020–2022 Alan Major July 2022–? Abdulrahman Mohammed 2024–November 2025 David Fizdale May 2026–present

Kit Manufacturer 2019–present: Peak

Nigeria men's national basketball team

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