Norman Powell headlines a Jamaican roster that has never qualified for the FIBA World Cup in its program’s history. (Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)
The Miami Heat are expected to have three players participating in the FIBA EuroBasket tournament next month.
Well, they won’t be the only Heat players in high-level international basketball in August.
Norman Powell, whom the Heat acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in early July, will be making his Jamaican National Team debut for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers next month, Eduardo Villapando reported Sunday.
Nick Richards is also expected to be on the roster, according to Villapando. The final roster has not been released at the time of this publishing.
Norman Powell will make his debut for the Jamaican National Team during next month’s FIBA window in Mexico, a league source tells me.
Jamaica will face Mexico, Barbados, and Costa Rica in World Cup Qualifiers. Suns big man Nick Richards will also join the squad. 🇯🇲
— Eduardo Villalpando (@eduardo_vhmx) July 28, 2025
Eight teams are competing in the three pre-qualifiers, which will be hosted in both Chile and Mexico.
Jamaica will be in Group A with Mexico, Barbados and Costa Rica. The three-day event — which begins Aug. 8 — will be a Round Robin format, and the top two teams from each group will secure the four available spots in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, which begin in November.
Powell, 32, has not played in any international competition in his career. Now, he headlines a Jamaican roster — that hasn’t been announced yet — that has never qualified for the World Cup or Olympics. Since they joined FIBA over 60 years ago, they have only qualified for one FIBA AmeriCup in 2013.
Powell is one of the best shooters in the NBA, averaging 21.8 points on 48.4 percent shooting and 41.8 percent shooting from 3-point range last season. He has drained at least 39.5 percent of his long-range attempts in eight of his 10 seasons.
Jamaica’s first pre-qualifying game will be against Barbados on Friday, Aug. 8, inside ITSON Arena in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
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