@Kyle Anderson/Weibo
Kyle Anderson is China’s first naturalized basketball player.
CNN –
US-born basketball player Kyle Anderson will represent China at next month’s FIBA World Cup after receiving Chinese citizenship, the China Basketball Association (CBA) announced Monday.
The 29-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves forward, whose Chinese name is Li Kaier, was eligible for Chinese citizenship through his maternal great-grandfather.
“Welcome Anderson! “Li Kaier received Chinese citizenship this morning and met with Yao Ming, Chairman of the (CBA),” the country’s basketball governing body posted on social media platform Weibo, alongside a photo of Anderson with NBA legend Yao.
Anderson is China’s first naturalized basketball player and his inclusion in the national team is considered a major coup.
Anderson confirmed the news in a video posted on his official Weibo account.
“Hello fans in China, this is Li Kaier, I am very pleased to announce that I will be representing China at the World Cup. I’m really proud and honored to wear the Team China jersey,” he said.
It is unclear whether the 2.06 meter tall Anderson had to give up his US passport. China does not recognize dual citizenship.
As the first country in basketball, China has gained a handful of top athletes of Chinese and non-Chinese descent through naturalization.
Most notable is US-born freestyle skiing sensation Eileen Gu, who won two gold and one silver medals for China at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Her mother is a first-generation Chinese immigrant.
Gu announced her “incredibly difficult decision” to join China from Team USA in 2019. She has never publicly disclosed whether she has renounced her US passport, but she caused a stir in 2021 when she applied to the US Presidential Scholars Program — a program open only to US citizens or permanent residents.
Gu has dodged questions about her citizenship.
“When I’m in China, I’m Chinese. When I’m in the US, I’m American,” she said previously.
The Chinese government is also taking a cautious approach to questions about Gu’s nationality, and the issue of dual nationality among top athletes remains controversial.
Other naturalized Chinese athletes include Canadian-born heptathlete Nina Schultz – also known as Zheng Ninali. At the Tokyo 2020 Games, she became China’s first naturalized Olympic athlete.
Notoriously, the 25-man roster of China’s Beijing 2022 men’s ice hockey team included only six local players, while a handful of naturalized football stars play in China’s Super League.
Anderson, who was born in Fairview, New Jersey, averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game with the Timberwolves last season.
The 2023 FIBA World Championship begins on August 25 and will be co-hosted by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. China meets Serbia in the opening game on August 26th.