NBA’s Kyle Anderson ‘on track’ to be naturalised for China at FIBA basketball World Cup
- Anderson, whose maternal grandmother was born to a Chinese man in Jamaica, fits Yao Ming’s strict criteria for naturalisation
- Former national team player Chen Zhenghao believes the Minnesota Timberwolves star will be ‘an instant upgrade’ for China
Sources close to the Chinese Basketball Association have told the Post that Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson is likely to be naturalised to play for China in time for this summer’s FIBA World Cup.
The nine-year NBA veteran is expected to fly to China after the end of the playoffs. The Timberwolves – who are the No 8 seeds in Western Conference – trail top seeds the Denver Nuggets 3-1 going into Wednesday’s game 5 in their best-of-seven, first-round series.
The process of naturalising Anderson began last year, the source said, with the 29-year-old American fitting the criteria set by CBA president and former NBA legend Yao Ming, who starred at the Houston Rockets.
Yao has reportedly made it “non-negotiable” that any players to be naturalised must have blood relations in China, and “cultural identity”, according to Chinese media.
Anderson certainly fits the bill. His maternal grandmother was born in Jamaica to a Chinese father and Jamaican mother, making him one-eighth Chinese. His great grandfather moved to the US with his family, and Anderson was born in New York in 1993.
The 2.06-metres tall forward, who was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, reunited with his remote Chinese family in 2018.