The Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson is set to play for Team China at this year’s FIBA World Cup. This comes after the Chinese Basketball Association announced on Monday that the player obtained Chinese citizenship through naturalization.
The latest in a long line of athletes to undergo Chinese naturalization, Anderson has become the first basketball player to do so.
“I’m so happy to announce that I will be representing China at the World Cup,” Anderson stated in a video that he released on his Weibo account. “Really proud and honored to wear the Team China jersey.”
Because FIBA allows teams to include one naturalized player on their roster, Anderson could be in line to represent China at the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
According to Chinese media, Anderson’s maternal grandmother was born in Jamaica to a Chinese father and a Jamaican mother. It remains unclear whether Anderson has renounced his original nationality, with China typically prohibiting dual nationality for its citizens.
