Nigeria’s Edrice Femi ‘Bam’ Adebayo has been named in the 12-member basketball squad of the United States to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics holding next month.
His inclusion appears to atone for the exclusion of another Nigerian-born player Nneka Ogwumike who missed the cut in the women’s squad. Ogwumike, a forward with Los Angeles Sparks is a six-time WNBA All-Star and 2016 league MVP.
She has been a regular for Team USA, playing in 59 international games including gold medal runs in the 2014 and 2018 FIBA World Cups.
Femi Adebayo goes by the nickname “Bam” which was given to him at the age of one after flipping over a table while watching The Flintstones in a manner that resembled one of the characters, BammBamm Rubble.
In the US men’s basketball team, only two players from the World Cup roster are on the 2021 U.S. men’s basketball roster: Jayson Tatum and Khris Middleton.
The other 10 players include some of the NBA’s finest, most notably Kevin Durant, who starred at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics for Team USA.
