NBA stars to suit-up for Centro Champs
CLEVELAND Cavaliers power forward Samardo Samuels headlines a number of overseas-based players that have been confirmed to join local players for the upcoming Centrobasket Men’s Championship to be held from June 18 to 24 in Puerto Rico.
Patrick Ewing Jnr, former New York Knicks and New Orleans Hornets player, will also join the team, along with Ryan Reid of the Oklahoma Thunder and Jerome Jordan of the New York Knicks.
However, it is unlikely that Roy Hibbert Jnr, who began playing for the national basketball team in 2010, and was named captain of the team in that same year, will wear the Jamaican colours at the Championships.
Hibbert has requested that the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA) release him so he may try out for the United States basketball team.
His agent, David Faulk, also emailed JaBA asking for an immediate release. However, according to JaBA president Ajani Williams, the association has not yet honoured the request due to FIBA processes and statutes governing such a transfer among other considerations.
Hibbert is eligible to play for Jamaica because his father was originally from Jamaica. On February 9, 2012, Hibbert was selected to his first All-Star game as a reserve for the Eastern Conference.
The Centrobasket Championship basketball tournament is organised by FIBA through FIBA Americas, with participating national teams of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Jamaica were drawn in Group B and will play Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico and the US Virgin Islands.
The 2012 Centrobasket qualifies four teams for the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship.