Eric ‘EJ’ Gordon, who has always professed his love for The Bahamas, showed just how valuable he could be to the country’s senior men’s national basketball team, leading them past the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournaments, and into the qualifiers, next year.
He was released by USA Basketball, cleared by FIBA, and added to Team Bahamas just two weeks ago, right in time for the pre-qualifiers, and without him, The Bahamas doesn’t advance.
One word to describe Gordon at the Estadio Ciudad de Santiago del Estero in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, on Sunday night, would be “clutch”, shooting the visiting Bahamians past host nation Argentina and into the Olympic qualifiers in 2024.
Gordon scored 11 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter. He had a strong shooting night, going 8-for-13 from the field and 6-for-7 from three-point range, including three three-point shots in the fourth quarter, and the dagger trey with 20.1 seconds remaining that gave The Bahamas an 80-75 lead. The Bahamas went on to win the championship game over Argentina, 82-75, and book their ticket into the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers next year.
“He was terrific and we are so happy to have him on board with us,” said Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield afterwards. “He’s a great addition to the team. He represents The Bahamas everywhere he goes and having a guy out there like that who could assist us in where we’re going is a blessing.”
Gordon, 34, is a 15-year veteran guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He’s had two stints with the Los Angeles Clippers and has also played with New Orleans and Houston. The Phoenix Suns signed him as a free agent this offseason and he’ll join his Bahamas Basketball teammate DeAndre Ayton in the Suns training camp in the coming weeks.
Ayton is back with the national team after a seven year hiatus and they both helped lead The Bahamas past Argentina, beating them twice, in Argentina, in the span of four days. Hield said they’re both special and they’re fortunate to have them with Bahamas Basketball. Ayton was the country’s premier big man in the pre-qualifiers, averaging a double-double in the four games The Bahamas played in.
“Shoutout to him (Ayton) for coming out and helping us get over this hump. He’s one of the better players in the world and we can’t go far without him,” said Hield. “This tournament was great for us. We all grew so much in this tournament, not just as Bahamians, but as brothers as well. We got to know each other’s stories and have an appreciation for each other. I feel like we could connect even more after this week.”
The Bahamas now has four NBA players suiting up – Ayton and Gordon with the Suns, Hieldofthe Indiana Pacers and Kai Jones, who missed this past tournament, with the Charlotte Hornets. The squad is coached by Chris DeMarco, an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors.
For Gordon, his mother was born in The Bahamas and he’s happy to be on board.
“This means a lot. It feels great to come out here and do this for The Bahamas. I’m just glad that we have a chance to advance,” said Gordon. “We have a great group of guys and we have to keep this thing rolling. We have good coaches, good players and this is what we wanted to do. I’m glad we made history.”
It doesn’t get any easier for The Bahamas as they’ll likely face teams like Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela in next year’s qualifiers – all significantly ranked higher than The Bahamas in the FIBA World Rankings.
They would have to win their group at next year’s qualifiers to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in basketball, but it’s certainly within the realm of possibility. They just defeated the number four ranked team in the world twice in four days, and in so doing, eliminated them from contention for the Paris Olympic Games. It ends a string of five straight Olympic appearances for Argentina.
“I’m just glad that we have this opportunity to celebrate but the work is not done,” said Hield. “We have to keep this thing rolling. I can’t wait for the next round. We still have a huge task ahead of us and we have to come together even more now. Let’s celebrate this but we’re not done.”
Hield and Ayton had off shooting nights on Sunday, but Gordon picked up the slack. However, Gordon would be the first to say that it was a total team effort that got the job done. They bonded together and got The Bahamas to its furthest point in Olympic qualification in basketball, and it couldn’t have come at a better time, during the year of The Bahamas’ 50th Golden Anniversary Independence celebrations.
The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments are set forJuly 2-7, 2024, and if successful there, The Bahamas will qualify for the basketball competition at the 2024 Olympics, which will be held from July27 to August 11, 2024.
The Bahamas would have to win its six-team group at theFIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments to move on to the Olympics. If successful,itwouldbe the first time that this nation has qualified for the Olympics in a team sport competition.
