Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, has dropped four places in the latest FIBA world ranking, sliding from 39th to 42nd position. This decline has sparked concern among basketball enthusiasts and calls for immediate action to restore the team’s competitive edge.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that D’Tigers, former African champions, accumulated 299.7 points during the month under review, placing them sixth on the continent. South Sudan, in a remarkable leap, moved from 34th to 23rd in the global rankings, overtaking Côte d’Ivoire to become Africa’s top-ranked team.
The latest rankings also see Angola, Tunisia, and Egypt rounding out the top five African teams. On the global stage, the United States continues to hold the top spot, while Serbia climbed two places to second, overtaking Germany with a total of 758.9 points.
The drop in D’Tigers’ ranking has led to widespread disappointment among fans and basketball analysts, who have expressed concern over the team’s apparent decline. Femi Olatubosun, a basketball fan, lamented the team’s fall from grace, attributing it to a lack of competition and absence from major championships.
“Sadly, D’Tigers has continued to drop in the scheme of things. This is due to a lack of competition and absence from major championships,” Olatubosun said. “I urge the federation to look critically at this and organize some friendly games for the team before the qualifiers for the Africa Cup begin.”
Similarly, Anthony Bernard criticized the Nigerian Basketball Federation for neglecting the team, which once stood as a powerhouse in African basketball. “D’Tigers have dropped in the world rankings because of neglect from the federation. The team needs to get back and challenge for titles,” Bernard stated. “The federation should organize friendly matches so that they can gather enough points and regain their top spot in Africa and in the world.”
D’Tigers previously held the position of the top African team before the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and remain the only African team to have defeated the U.S. national team. However, the recent ranking reflects a decline in the team’s performance and competitiveness on both the continental and global stages.
As the basketball community continues to voice its concerns, the pressure is on the Nigerian Basketball Federation to take swift action to reinvigorate D’Tigers and restore their position as a formidable force in African and global basketball.
