When it comes to basketball, no country in the world can boast of having as much talent as the USA. Historically, most of the NBA‘s greatest players have been American, and Team USA has dominated at the Olympics. In the last two decades, though, international teams have started catching up.

An abundance of talent means that a lot of American NBA players don’t get to play on the international stage. Los Angeles Lakers man Jaxson Hayes is one such player. And after recently disclosing that he’s trying to become a naturalized Slovenian citizen to play alongside Luka Doncic, Hayes explained which Team USA policy led him to this decision.

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Jaxson Hayes says he is pursuing a Slovenian passport to be able to play on the national team with Luka Doncic. Beyond the chance to play with Doncic, Hayes says his interest has been sparked by the fact that USA Basketball does not hold open tryouts — which he doesn’t agree with pic.twitter.com/R9g5ViVFjY

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“Yeah, just a little something,” Hayes said when asked about trying to play for Slovenia. “I don’t really know. We have the same agent, and my parents and his parents are kind of all working on it right now. But they came to me with the idea, and I think it’s that each national team gets like one naturalized player, so they brought that to my attention.

“USA doesn’t do open tryouts, and I feel like there are guys they invite to the USA one that shouldn’t be there, and so I just wanted to play on that stage, and so I’m gonna do whatever it takes to play on that stage.”

Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayex warms up before the game against the Golden State Warriors. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

It’s safe to say that even if Team USA did have tryouts, Hayes wouldn’t have made it. He has yet to establish himself as an NBA starter and is far from one of the league’s best players. Having said that, trying to play for Slovenia makes sense for the center. They need talent, and it could be the ideal level for him.

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