Argentina, ranked by FIBA as the No. 4 ranked basketball team in the world, lost their chance at a 2024 Olympic berth after falling to an Eric Gordon-led Bahamas team on Monday. One Argentinian former NBA player cried foul after the result.
Gordon poured in a team-high 27 points during the final of the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament. The 15-year NBA veteran also scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Bahamas to an 82-75 comeback win against Argentina.
Andres Nocioni, an Argentinian and former NBA journeyman, criticized FIBA for allowing Gordon to play at all. Gordon previously suited up for Team USA during the 2010 FIBA World Championships.
“Now with a cold head, I think: is it fair what the Bahamas did to nationalize a player who had already competed for the United States (even winning a World Cup) at the last moment? This signing at will is called the club league, not the national team competition. And it should be corrected,” said Nocioni on X.
Gordon, whose mother is a native of the Bahamas, was cleared by FIBA earlier this month based on an exception to the rule that disallows players to switch basketball allegiances. The criteria would be if said player would be “joining a developing national team program” and the move is deemed “in the best interest of basketball.”
Team USA granted Gordon’s release from their program, allowing him to form a formidable Bahamian trio with NBA players Deandre Ayton and Buddy Hield.
The win secured the Bahamas a spot in an Olympic qualifying tournament in July 2024. The island nation has never qualified for the FIBA World Cup or the Olympic basketball tournament in its history. The result also forced Argentina to miss the Olympic games for the first time since 2000.
Nocioni was part of Argentina’s golden generation of players that emerged during the early aughts. Led by Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili, the 2004 Argentina squad was the last team other than Team USA to win men’s basketball gold at the Olympics.
More must-reads: