Haynes' national team bid dashed
By Nam Hyun-woo
Aaron Haynes
SK Knights forward Aaron Haynes has every reason to be upset.
The 201 centimeter tall forward has not just lost his chance to play for the Korean national team — he wanted Korean citizenship — but also an off-season contract with a Puerto Rican team. From the 33-year-old American’s standpoint, all blame lies with basketball leaders.
Until last week, Haynes thought everything was going smoothly, as proposed by a committee in charge of running the national basketball team.
Their plan was to have Haynes in Team Korea for the Incheon Asian Games and then the Olympics.
After all the brouhaha, the committee, which consists of senior members of the Korea Basketball Association (KBA) and the Korean Basketball League (KBL), now realize he won’t be eligible.
“We belatedly learned that he cannot play for the national team even after naturalization,” a KBA official said by telephone.
They didn’t know the charter of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), which bars athletes born outside Asia from playing in the Games.
Naturalized athletes need to live continuously for at least three years to play for the team.
Haynes has been with SK Knights for six seasons, but even if he gets naturalized, he wouldn’t meet the three-year requirement.
He reportedly expressed his utter disappointment; but couldn’t be independently contacted.
Haynes felt the committee should have known better.
The naturalization plan was a desperate effort for the national team to perform better. Other Asian countries, including the Philippines, showed major improvements after taking on naturalized players.
The Philippines successfully included NBA Brooklyn Nets’ American player Andray Blatche through a well-organized approach and preparation.
National team coach Lee Sang-bum went to the United States to look for hopefuls but without success. The team turned their eyes to foreign players in domestic league, but Haynes was the only option.
The OCA regulation isn’t the only barrier.
He would be subject to a special naturalization, which allows dual nationality but requires complicated paper work on the basis of tough screening by the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and the Ministry of Justice.
It was impossible for Haynes to complete all these procedures in the short period time before the national team opened its training camp.
Despite the Korean basketball organizations’ incompetence, Haynes said he still wants to play for Korea after the Incheon Games, and continue his post retirement career here as a coach.