Basketball team gets first naturalised player after 20 years

The 27-year-old, who was born in Germany, has been recently put on a 30-man preliminary roster of the Slovenian national team ahead of the training camp for the EuroBasket in September.

After playing for six years in the NBA for four teams, the 211 cm tall power forward and centre had a two-year stint in Russia's Lokomotiv Kuban in 2014-2016 and currently plays for the European powerhouse Real Madrid.

Radoslav Nesterović, the secretary general of the Slovenian Basketball Association, had much to do with Slovenia managing to convince Randolph to join the Slovenian national team.

Nesterović, ae former NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs, said that this was an opportunity that must not be missed.

"The idea was born during last year's qualifiers, when we realised that we have no real player at the positions 4 and 5. The arrival of Randolph is the right...