Oyogist.com has learned that the Nigeria team has defeated USA in pre-Olympic basketball friendly, become first African nation to beat Americans in basketball.
Nigeria, with six NBA players and former NBA head coach Mike Brown at the helm, became the first African nation to beat the USA, who were playing the first of a five of tune-up games before the Tokyo Olympics.
I’m kind of glad it happened,” USA head coach Gregg Popovich said, claiming that the Nigerians have had the luxury of training together since late June while the US side had assembled just four days earlier.
Popovich said the defeat should be seen as a learning experience and not “the end of the world”.
Nigeria’s win came nine years after the United States crushed the Nigerians 156-73 at the London Olympics.
The United States, who have won three Olympic men’s basketball titles since settling for bronze in 2004, are looking to regain global dominance after finishing in seventh at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
