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Our focus for today is the duo of Alade Aminu and Al-Farouk Aminu, the first set of brothers to feature for the senior Nigerian national basketball team, D’Tigers. The Aminus are very good with the ball in their hands and have established themselves as part of the best basketball talents the country can boast of presently. In a career that has spanned over eleven years, Alade who started professionally with the American basketball side, Erie Bayhawks in 2009 before joining Detroit based side, Bakersfield Jam in 2010, has had an adventurous career, plying his trade in other countries such as France (Elan Chalon, Nanterre 92), Turkey (Pinar Karsiyaka, Bandirma, TED Ankara), in Italy, Israel, Lebanon, and Poland. He was a French league champion in 2012 alongside the French Leader Cup and has also won the French Cup twice in 2011 and 2012, Lebanese champion in 2017. Alade’s individual honours include NBA D-League All-Star (2010), All NBA D-League Third Team (2010), French League All-Star (2012), Israeli League All-Star (2016), and Israeli League Rebounding Leader (2016).
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Al-Farouq Aminu, on the other hand, has not moved outside the United States since his selection by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2010 NBA Draft. The small/power forward has featured for professional teams like the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans (2011-2014), Dallas Mavericks (2014-2015), Portland Trail Blazers (2015-2019), Orlando Magic (2019-2021), and his present club, Chicago Bulls. Al-Farouq’s honours include Mr George Basketball (2008), First-team Parade All-American (2008), McDonald’s All-American (2008), ACC All-Freshman team (2009), Second-team All-ACC (2010). Aged 33 (born September 14, 1987), Alade Aminu is the eldest of the two brothers and was convinced by the 30-year-old Al-Farouk to feature for Nigeria’s D’Tigers despite being both born in Atlanta, USA. The pair made history as the first brothers to represent D’Tigers in the summer of 2012 during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caracas, Venezuela, their debut tournament for Nigeria together. Since then, they have never looked back in representing their fatherland, featuring in the London 2012 Olympics together, helping Nigeria win its first FIBA Afrobasket title in 2015, and are both hopeful of being part of the Tokyo 2021 Nigeria Olympic squad. Sources: Aips Media FIBA Wikipedia Featured Image Source: FIBA
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