Kyrie Irving: I’d Like To Play For The Boomers In the 2028 L.A. Olympics

An interesting development

Never predictable and never dull, former Duke star Kyrie Irving is off on a new quest: he’d like to play for Australia in the 2028 L.A. Olympics.

It won’t necessarily be easy. He’ll have to get approval from the secretary general of FIBA - that’s Andreas Zagklis of Greece at the moment - and he alone can authorize a switch under “exceptional circumstances.”

It doesn’t happen often. Klay Thompson was rejected for the Bahamas. Former Blue Devil Elizabeth Williams wanted to play for Nigeria, as did Nneka Ogwumike.

Paperwork aside, you have to satisfy some criteria for Zagklis to approve the move. According to MSN, these issues are key:

• The impact of the change in the development of basketball in the countries or territories involved.
• The level of basketball in the countries involved, such as their world and continental ranking and recent results.
• The potential effect of the change in the competitive balance of FIBA Official Competitions.
• The circumstances of the participation of the player with the previous national team.

Keep in mind too that Greece and Australia are at a similar level and Zagklis might not be wild about approving an improvement to a rival team.

If he does though, there’s at least a chance that Australia will have two former Blue Devils as Jack White may be a candidate as well.

Finally, keep in mind that he’s already declining somewhat. In 2028, he’ll be 36. That might be pushing it a bit.

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