By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
NBA superstar Kyrie Irving confirmed his interest in joining the Australian national basketball team for the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
According to Athlon Sports’ Grant Afseth, Irving is willing to switch nationalities from representing America to Australia and already kicked off processing the preliminary paper work to make this happen.
“I’m just trying to do what’s best for me. Honestly, if I can be an Aussie at one point in my career and play for the Australian team, that would be great,” Irving told Afseth.
The nine-time NBA All-Star was born in Melbourne, Australia, and has dual citizenship but would need to receive approval from USA Basketball and FIBA to finalize his nationality switch.
Irving already helped the USA men’s national basketball team win a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Aside from his lone Olympics stint nine years ago, Irving also won a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup where he teamed up with Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, and James Harden.
“We’re in the process of that right now, just trying to figure out the best route for me to be eligible,” Irving added.
Irving also teased several NBA reporters present during the All-Star weekend about his plan to transfer to Australia.
“There’s a lot of paperwork in between that. Obviously, Team USA still has a decision to make,” Irving explained.
