Nigeria Basketball almost collapsed in 2022. Now D'Tigress are one of the best stories of the Olympics

After a Federation disruption cost them a chance at the 2022 World Cup, the Nigerian women's national basketball team is in Paris and ready to shock the world.

In 2022, the Nigerian basketball federation was mired in what could best be described as a bureaucratic civil war. Two different factions had emerged within the NBBF, one by the incumbent President Musa Kida and the other by Kida’s predecessor, Tijani Umar. While the sides prepared for battle, the men’s and women’s national teams had to sit, wait and wonder.

Two years removed from a low point in Nigerian basketball history, the women — known as D’Tigress — are rapidly becoming one of the best stories in the 2024 Paris Olympics. But to understand their happiness, one has to look back to the road of adversity they took to get here.

A Battle for Basketball

Basketball in Nigeria has exploded in the last two decades aided in part by American expats that have spiritually returned home. Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown coached the team in the 2020 Olympics and, in 2021, D’Tigers upset the United States in an exhibition game. It was the first time an African team had ever beaten Team USA in men’s basketball.

The women’s team, D’Tigress, had won three straight AfroBasket Gold Medals heading into 2022. In that competition, they had won 18 straight games dating back to 2015. Former NBA Champion Sam Vincent coached Nigeria in the 2004 Summer Olympics, where they secured the first ever victory by an African nation in an Olympic women’s basketball game.

But in 2022, the battle between Kida and Umar threatened to undo all the progress that had been made in the country. Initially, Kida had won the election for the NBBF Presidency in the capital city of Abuja. With FIBA observers in attendance and oversight provided by the Nigerian Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, it was considered to be the authentic election.

But at the same time, in the city of Kano, Umar held an election of his own. Both men declared themselves the President of the NBBF. There’s multiple opinions about what actually happened and why. Was Kida a favorite of Sports Minister Solomon Dalung? Was Umar trying to solidify an iron grip on the federation by amending the NBBF constitution for a third term? Whatever the viewpoint, the discussion turned so toxic that on May 13, 2022, the Nigerian President pulled the plug on competitive international basketball.

"Following the unending crises that have plagued and nearly crippled basketball development in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has today approved the immediate withdrawal of Nigeria from all International Basketball Competitions for a period of two years,” the statement read.

Nigerian basketball, for the time being, was dead.

A Resurrection

The Nigerian women’s team felt the effects first. The withdrawal from international competition meant D’Tigress wouldn’t be competing in the 2022 FIBA World Cup. The spot was given to Australia.

Within a month of the ban, FIBA threatened action. Expat Nigerians from Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri to then-Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka spoke out publicly against the action. In June of 2022, the Nigerian government relented, lifting the ban with Kida being recognized officially as the President of the NBBF.

Unfortunately, it came too late for D’Tigress who had to watch the World Cup from afar. But the lifting of the ban allowed them to return to the AfroBasket in 2023, where they managed to win their fourth straight continental title.

“No one cares about what we are going through off the [court],” said Nigerian star Ezinne Kalu after this week. “They just see what we do on the [court].”

When the 2024 Olympic qualifiers came around, the national team locked in again. While they fell to Belgium and the United States in the Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp, they beat continental rival Senegal on the back of 21 points and 10 rebounds from Amy Okonkwo. Despite a -64 point differential, third place was all they needed. D’Tigress were returning to the Olympics.

A Road to A Renaissance

When they arrived in Paris earlier this week, the women found that their tribulations weren’t over. Once they made it to the banks of the Seine River, where the Opening Ceremonies were slated to be held, they were told by a Nigerian official that there was no room for them on the boat that would be transporting their Olympic delegation.

The team missed the opening ceremonies completely and couldn’t get to the area of the city where delegations were put on busses back to Lille. So D’Tigress had to wait until the morning before returning to their facility, missing their first practice of the tournament in the process.

In spite of that, the Nigerians pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the games to date, beating Australia 74-62 for the Lady Tigers’ first Olympic victory in 20 years.

“I feel so good,” Okonkwo said after the win. “We pulled together and that’s what it’s all about. You overcome adversity, you fight until the end and come out on top.”

With 32 year old Rena Wakama, currently an assistant coach at Tulane University, leading the team and a roster largely comprised of college age players, Nigeria managed to upset an Australia team loaded with WNBA talent. Now they set their sites on an Olympic first: making it out of the group stage. A team from the African continent has never done it in women’s basketball. But with one victory already in hand and matchups against France and Canada on tap, there is a strong possibility D’Tigress could head to the knockout rounds.

After being briefly left for dead internationally, Nigeria has come storming back and captured the imagination of women’s basketball fans in Paris. With one more win, history could be made as D’Tigress carry the dreams of a nation on their shoulders. In the wake of adversity, resilience has carried the Lady Tigers to a renaissance.