Who is Promise Amukamara? Meet the US born Nigerian star who will take on Team USA in Olympics basketball quarterfinals

By Avi Shravan

Modified Aug 05, 2024 11:12 GMT

Promise Amukamara is making a name for herself representing the Nigerian women's basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She has been excellent for the African nation, averaging 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. Amukamara helped her team get past the mighty Canadian team to secure a spot in the tournament's quarterfinals.

Promise Onyekachi Amukamara is a U.S.-born player with roots in Nigeria. Born June 22, 1993, in New Jersey, she attended Apollo High School in Glendale, Arizona. Promise is the sister of former NFL player and Super Bowl champion Prince Anukamara. The Nigerian international went to Arizona State University and played for the school's basketball team in her collegiate years.

In an interview with NBC Sports, Amukamara shared her experience growing up in the States.

"I grew up in a predominantly Mexican and Caucasian environment," Amukamara said. "There were hardly any Black people and no Nigerians living by me. The only time I would see Nigerians was when my parents would take us to African parties and that’s where I would see people that looked like me and grew up like me."

Promise Amukamara is from the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria and is the fourth oldest among her six siblings. Promise had declared for the WNBA draft in 2015 and was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury as the 36th overall pick. However, she never played in the WNBA. The 5-foot-9 point guard plays for Chanay BB in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball in France.

Promise Amukamara shares her reason to represent Nigeria instead of the USA

Promise Amukamara was born in the USA, which provided her the option to represent the States as well as her origin country, Nigeria. While talking to NBC Sports, Amukamara shared her reason for going ahead with Nigeria.

"The No. 1 reason is because I’m Nigerian of course and it’s just an honor to be able to represent your country and play for the country that’s all you know, honestly," Amukamara said. "Just to make my parents proud so they can see their child compete for a country that they’ve lived in their whole life. I wanted to make my family proud and that’s what I did."

Nigeria has made it to the quarterfinals of the prestigious international sports meet and will face Team USA, who are the favorites in the competition. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It would be a tough battle for Promise Amukamara, as the two teams have met previously in the Olympics qualifying tournament, where the USA handed Nigeria a crushing 100-46 defeat.