Miami Heat's new Jamaican basketball player, Norman Powell, said his country's national team is ready to compete in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Americas Pre-Qualifiers, which will be held in Mexico and Chile on August 8-10.
On the FIBA website, quoted in Jakarta on Friday, he stated that Jamaica is ready to win one of the four tickets to the Americas zone qualifying round for the 2027 World Cup, which will be held in November.
"We have a good chance, the Jamaican national team will work hard and fight," said Powell, who won the 2019 NBA championship with the Toronto Raptors.
The player, who will begin his 11th season in the NBA, and his first with the Heat, added that Powell is very committed to representing his family's country.
The 32-year-old player believes his playing style suits the atmosphere of international basketball, which is known to prioritize physicality, so he can't wait to learn the rules and international style of play.
"The experience of representing the national team has been extraordinary. I felt very welcomed by my teammates, the coaching staff, and everyone involved," he said.
Jamaica hopes Powell will be a pioneer in the inclusion of several other NBA players to the squad, such as Nick Richards, twins Amen and Ausar Thompson, Josh Minott, and brothers Justin and Julian Champagnie.
Following pre-qualification, Powell will return to focus on preparing for the 2025-2026 NBA season with the Miami Heat.
The player, who was brought in via a three-team trade in July, is expected to strengthen the attack and provide leadership to a squad that includes Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, Nikola Jovic, and Simone Fontecchio.
Last season, the basketball player posted a career-high 21.9 points per game (ppg) on average, with a 42 percent three-point shooting accuracy for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Norman Powell is a player who was born in San Diego, California, United States, on May 25, 1993.
He plays as a shooting guard or small forward with a height of around 1.91 meters.
Powell played his college basketball career with the UCLA Bruins from 2011 to 2015, before being selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft.
