NBA superstar Kyrie Irving said he would love to “entertain” playing for the Boomers at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, having expressed disappointment over not being given a chance to try out for Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Irving, 32, was born in Melbourne after his father Drederick moved to Australia to play for the Bulleen Boomers, of the South East Australian Basketball League in 1992.
Irving was a mainstay of Team USA during the early part of his career, winning gold for Team USA at the 2014 FIBA World Cup and 2016 Olympics. But he was snubbed for this year’s Olympic campaign in Paris and was not afforded an opportunity to try out for the team.
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Irving, a former No.1 pick, admitted switching to Australian colours would be difficult but spoke of the possibility in an interview with The Athletic, citing the disappointment of not playing international basketball for the US.
“I would love to entertain playing for Team Australia, man,” Irving said.
“I don’t think it’s a strong, strong possibility at this point, depending on what the Olympic Committee does.
“But as a competitor, I was born in Australia.
“For me, it’s not a hard transition to make . I don’t want to fall into the trap of being let down or disappointed when I know that there are other opportunities out there for me.”
Irving would need to be granted a release by Team USA and FIBA for the move to happen.
He would be 36 once the LA Games begin and it would be interesting to see how the US basketball establishment would feel about letting a future Hall-of-Famer play for a foreign nation during what would be a home Olympics. How he would be treated by USA fans wearing Aussie colours is another story entirely.
The comments come after Irving admitted last year that he was stopped by Team USA officials of playing for Australia in his teens.
“I consider myself an international player even though I played on Team USA,” Irving said at the time.
“A lot of my peers laugh at me when I bring it up and some fans may not agree, but I was born in Australia.
“Team USA asked me to play for them when I was 17 or 18 … I wanted to play for Australia, but it just didn’t happen.
“Coach K (Former Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski) wasn’t going to let that happen either.”