Nigeria’s new coach for D’Tigers, David Fizdale, is hopeful of making the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and making an impact with the team. The former Miami Heat coach spoke about his plans in a detailed exclusive interview with M4STV (m4stv.com) in Nigeria.
This week, the Nigeria Basketball Federation named Fizdale as the new head coach of the D’Tigers, the country’s senior men’s national basketball team.
Fizdale, who said he was happy with the new work challenge, said he is determined to turn things around for a team that has fallen far behind the performance of the women’s team, D’Tigress. By his plans, qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles is on the table.
“We have to make getting to Los Angeles our mission,” he said in the interview with M4S TV in Nigeria.
“That is my ultimate goal, to get this team to those Olympics. And not just get there. I want to win.”
Fizdale added, “We can’t set short goals. We can’t just say, ‘Oh, we’re happy to be in the Olympics.’ That is not acceptable. We have to set higher goals. We have to set the same goals as the U.S. team, the same expectations as the U.S. team.
“Can we reach it? I don’t know. But if we’re shooting for that and working in that way, pushing ourselves and holding ourselves accountable to be on that level, only good things can come out of that.”
Fizdale told M4STV that he was already talking with a lot of the players.
“I guarantee you one thing: the guys I’ve talked to who want to play and are working to get eligibility, they’re not going to be happy just to be at the Olympics. They’re going to want to win a medal.”
Incidentally, Los Angeles is Fizdale’s hometown.
The former Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns assistant coach said, “When you go through your career, if you’re lucky enough, you start putting together a bucket list of basketball things you want to accomplish.
“When I found out I’d be coaching a team in my hometown, that made it that much more desirable. All of my friends, all of my family, all of my coaches, we were all here as witnesses to the ‘84 Olympics.
“When young Michael Jordan was coming out of college, I was like 9 or 10 years old. And that stuck with me. From that moment, I wanted to participate. Back then, I wanted to play.
But when the basketball gods said playing wasn’t in the cards, I shifted my mindset: I really want to coach in the Olympics.”
Fizdale confirmed that he has already consulted with Chimezie Metu, whom he coached in Phoenix, as well as Houston Rockets guard Okogie, and says the response from Nigerian players across the globe has been very good.