Getty Mike Brown leads the Nigerian basketball team in a scrimmage against Team USA.
Mike Brown and the Nigerian men’s basketball team faced an almost impossible task on Saturday — taking on an American squad filled with superstars, a program that just nine years ago had beaten Nigeria by 83 points.
But instead of wilting under pressure, the Golden State Warriors coach led the lightly regarded squad to one of the biggest upsets in international basketball history, defeating Team USA by a score of 90-87. With Warriors head coach Steve Kerr on the opposite bench, Brown took a squad with only a handful of NBA players to victory thanks to lights-out shooting from behind the arc, earning himself and his team plenty of praise in the process.
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Brown Engineers Historic Upset
As CBS Sports noted, the Nigerian squad took “the common route to pulling off a massive upset,” some fantastic shooting from deep. The team made 20-of-42 from behind the three-point arc, with the Miami Heat’s Gabe Vincent hitting six triples. As the report noted, the Nigerian squad also out-rebounded the Americans by a margin of 46-34.
The Nigerian basketball program has made considerable strides in the last decade. Back in the 2012 London Olympics, Team USA dismantled the Nigerians en route to a 156-73 victory, but since then Nigeria had greatly improved its basketball infrastructure. While the 2012 Nigerian squad had just one NBA player, NBC Sports noted that Brown’s team has six — Gabe Vincent, Precious Achiuwa and KZ Okpala of the Miami Heat, Chimezie Metu of the Sacramento Kings, Josh Okogie of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miye Oni of the Utah Jazz.
July 2021 in Las Vegas: Nigeria 90, United States 87
August 2012 at the London Olympics:
United States 156, Nigeria 73
(The latter, yes, really was an 83-point margin.)
After the win, Brown took note of the historic upset — the first time an African team had beaten the United States — but tried to keep the scrimmage in perspective.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t mean much in the standings as far as where we’re trying to get to,” Brown said, via USA Today. “But it’s a good win for us. I don’t think any African team has been able to beat USA Basketball in an exhibition game or a real game. … We’re trying to get a little bit of momentum for Nigeria and for the continent of Africa.”
Shout out to our guy Mike Brown for coaching @NigeriaBasket to a historic win 👏
Brown Excited For Challenge
Before Saturday’s monumental upset, Brown opened up about the opportunity to lead the Nigerian team. He told Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area that he was thrilled to get the call asking if he would coach the team. Brown said it is not only the chance to lead one of the 12 teams competing for gold in Tokyo, but also the opportunity to represent an entire content, as Nigeria is the only team from Africa that qualified.
“We’re going to Tokyo to WIN.”
– Coach Mike Brown
Brown said he’s thrilled for the opportunity and hopes to make the Nigerian people proud.
“When I think of the country of Nigeria, I fall in love with the people there,” he said. “They’re so intelligent, so driven, they’re dedicated. We are representing and trying to uplift the people of Nigeria and the diaspora around the world.”
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