Warriors assistant Mike Brown coaches Nigerian Olympians looking to win.
Nobody needs to explain to Mike Brown the enormity of what he is encountering as the head coach and face for the future of the Nigerian men’s basketball team.
As a matter of fact, he openly adds to those expectations as the program prepares for the Tokyo Olympics.
“Us playing well in these Games could uplift a lot of people,” the Warriors’ lead assistant coach said Friday, a day before his squad plays an exhibition game against the United States in Las Vegas. “Not just uplift the people of Nigeria, but the entire continent of Africa. On top of that, there are a lot of Black people around the world who identify with the continent of Africa. That can help uplift, unite and connect an entire group of people.
“We welcome that pressure.” Brown, 51, has regularly greeted bigstage gravity during a quartercentury career in the NBA that has included three championships. He won as an assistant with San Antonio in 2003 and with the Warriors in 2017 and ’18.
In between, he was the head coach of LeBron James in Cleveland and Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles.
All of those stars and most of those teams were expected to do well. That hasn’t been the case historically for the Nigerian national team.
No African nation has ever advanced past pool or group play in the Olympics, but times might be changing. Heck, maybe they already have.
This is the first time that both the Nigerian men’s and women’s basketball teams qualified for the same Olympics, and they’ve done it during a Games for which the country’s soccer teams didn’t make it.
That could be enough to galvanize a soccercrazed population to follow the only team sport represented, but it also comes after the Nigerian Basketball Federation has put extended effort into advancing the game that already is having a huge impact.
When Nigeria first contacted Brown, he thought it would be a good opportunity for one of the Warriors’ younger coaches or developmental individuals. After he listened to President Ahmadu Musa Kida about his vision for the NBBF and consulted with Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr, Brown started dreaming of an opportunity to make a bigger impact.
As FIBA and the NBA came together for a professional basketball league in Africa and Kida shared his plans for shining a light on the Nigerian players with sponsorships and a deeprooted academy to develop players, Brown became convinced that the country can become a consistent “topfive program” in the world.
About a year and a half ago, he went to work in recruiting players and hiring NBAlevel equipment, security and medical staff. Amid some of the gravest days of the coronavirus pandemic in November, Brown flew to Rwanda and helped his quickly assembled team go 60 by an average score of 17 points to qualify for the Olympics.
Now, he has a 16player pool that includes eight current NBA players. As Brown tries to trim the roster to the 12player squad that travels to Tokyo, Nigeria will play three exhibition games in Las Vegas, including Saturday against the United States.
“I don’t think they need much help,” Brown joked of the U.S. team. “We do. And, I don’t think (Popovich) wants to help us.
“It’s all good.”
Brown didn’t joke about much else during a 40minute news conference Friday. Brown already has scouted Argentina for a friendly Monday, and he wants his players to take this all just as seriously.
He preaches intensity and attention to detail, and of course, defense. He doubleddown on the defensive demands Friday as the team waits for the arrival of Detroit’s Jahlil Okafor (personal reasons) and Milwaukee’s Jordan Nwora (NBA Finals).
According to Brown, the Miami Heat’s Precious Achiuwa defended seven players, including two on the sideline, during one recent practice possession and Stanford alum KZ Okpala could be “a Defensive Player of the Yeartype candidate.”
“We have the mindset of: ‘We’re going to Tokyo to win,’ ” Brown said. “We’re not settling. We’re not going to be OK with any ‘L’s’ along the way. We’re looking forward to showing, not only the country of Nigeria, but also the continent of Africa and the people around the world, there’s a lot of Nigerian talent out there.”