Mike Brown ready to lead a new era of Nigerian basketball at Tokyo 2020

In the history of basketball at the Olympic Games, no African side has ever made it past the group stage of the competition.

Egypt came the closest in 1952, finishing ninth. But at Tokyo 2020 that run could come to an end courtesy of Nigeria.

The West African nation is the first from the continent to have qualified both men's and women's basketball teams for the same Games.

Based on the evidence from Nigeria's exhibition games, both squads should have stronger aspirations than simply progressing from their groups at Tokyo 2020.

In fact, Mike Brown, current assistant head coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors and head coach of the men's team, says the plan is to go to Tokyo to win.

He said, "We have the mindset of: 'We're going to Tokyo to win.' Whatever that means at the end of the day, we'll find out, but we're not going to be OK with settling.

Nigeria ready to shine

Brown's words are in keeping with his team's slogan which was originally said by Nelson Mandela: "The world will not respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the world need Nigeria to be great as a source of pride and confidence."

Their stunning wins over reigning Olympic champion the United States and world number four team Argentina in back-to-back Olympic warm-up games have earned Nigerian, ranked 22 in the world, that respect.

And the excitement, perhaps even expectation, surrounding Nigeria for Tokyo 2020 is an indication of just how far the men's programme has come in the last decade.

The team opened its Olympic campaign Sunday, suffering a 84-67 loss to a tough Australia squad, outscored by 11 points in the final stanza after a close first three quarters.

Olympic underdogs no longer?

D'Tigers made their Olympic debut at London 2012, where they posted one win and four losses - including an embarrassing 156-73 loss to the USA - in group play, finishing 10th.

They fared little better four years later in Rio, again winning one game and failing to progress past the group stage.

However, the Nigerian teams of the past two Olympiads were short on elite talent with only one player of those two rosters containing an active NBA player (Al-Farouq Aminu).

Fast forward to 2021, and Brown and Nigeria Basketball President Musa Kida have assembled a 12-man roster with no fewer than eight NBA players.

Brown says, "We have to appreciate the people who laid down the foundations for this program in 2012 and 2016, when they didn't have as much attention or resources as we do now. They played when it was extremely hard. We're more than appreciative for the foundations they created, and we want to build upon them.

"We want to let those past Nigeria teams know we're proud of what they accomplished in simply getting to the Olympics, and we hope to be able to take that torch and continue moving up so the next generation that comes after these players and me can continue to rise up."

That growth Brown alludes to is already well underway. After Nigeria's disappointments of London and Rio, the country turned to overseas-born players particularly those based in the United States.

Results have been trending upwards ever since, culminating in Nigeria becoming the first African outfit to beat Team USA in Las Vegas on 11 July.

Naija no dey carry last

Brown has previously stated how much talent there is in Nigerian basketball, and how excited he is to lead this group at Tokyo 2020.

That probably explains why the 2009 NBA Coach of the Year took the job without accepting a salary (in the traditional sense, at least), as president Kida explained in an interview with ESPN.

"Mike decided that he wasn't going to take a salary per se - of course he is entitled to be taken care of environmentally - but for a coach to say, 'Whatever it is you're going to pay me, I'm going to take it and put it back into the team'... it blew me away. He made that commitment right from the beginning, so it showed how passionate he was about Nigerian and African basketball."

Brown admits that Kida himself was instrumental in his decision to become the head coach of the men's team.

Brown continued, "The Nigerian people, as I've learned, are extremely intelligent, extremely passionate, extremely prideful, and one of the hardest working groups of people out there. To be around that, and see the depth of talent this program has to offer, I wanted to be a part of it.

"Going forward, there's no reason Nigeria can't be a top-five programme year in, year out; as long as we establish a youth programme... and raise our young guys in the same system so they play together for years and we can create a continuity with the senior national team, but more importantly a connectivity that that group will be able to have to sustain a top-five level in the world."

While there has been significant growth in players with Nigerian heritage making it to the NBA, Brown is well aware of the opportunity both national teams have at Tokyo 2020 to help foster increased participation in basketball in Africa and make Nigerians proud.

"Otis Hughley has done a fantastic job with the women's team; they have an opportunity to advance, and we feel like we do too. Nigeria playing well in these games -- it could uplift a lot of people; not just in Nigeria or the continent of Africa, but for are a lot of black people around the world who identify with the continent of Africa.

"We welcome that pressure, and no one has put more pressure on this team than ourselves, but it's something we look forward to doing and accomplishing at a high level to make everyone proud."

Nigeria's men's team get their Olympic campaign underway on 25 July when they meet Australia, while the women's team face six-time defending Olympic champions the United States in their opener two days later.