Kyle Anderson Expected to Renounce American Citizenship; Join Chinese National Team

The Minnesota Timberwolves are down 3-1 to the Denver Nuggets and will play in their second straight elimination game on Tuesday night. But some interesting news popped up in the Morning Post today.

Kyle Anderson to join Chinese National Team

Not the Washington Post or New York Post. The South China Morning Post is reporting that Wolves forward, Kyle Anderson, is set to be “naturalised” by the Chinese government this offseason so he can join the Chinese national basketball team and compete in international competition.

Sources close to the Chinese Basketball Association have told the Post that Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson is likely to be naturalised to play for China in time for this summer’s FIBA World Cup.

South China Morning Post

Anderson must renounce American citizenship

Anderson, whose great grandfather is from China, according to the Morning Post, is 1/8 Chinese. There’s a catch, though. China doesn’t allow dual citizenship. That means Anderson, who was born in New York City, will have to renounce his American citizenship in order to be naturalised by China.

Under Article 3 of the current Nationality Law, China does not recognise dual nationality. If Anderson is to don the China jersey, the former UCLA player will have to renounce his US citizenship.

South China Morning Post

Goodbye freedom

Kyle Anderson is his own person and has his own reasons for wanting to join the Chinese national basketball team. But I cannot imagine, as a US citizen, giving up my rights as an American so I can join the biggest and most corrupt dictatorship in modern history.

In July 2020, Anderson — who was with the Memphis Grizzlies at the time — told “The Undefeated” (now “Andscape) that he was wearing “Listen to Us” on the back of his jersey because, “I think the world needs to listen to us — not just our country but the world. Everybody, they need to know what’s going on in our world so that we can make it a better world.”

Now, he’s giving up his right to American freedom for a country and government that denounces individual freedoms, has modern day muslim concentration camps and hasn’t listened to its citizens for decades. Makes sense, especially for someone in this league.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan