In what was the largest crowd at a basketball match on Jamaican soil, over 3,500 fans converged on the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston to watch Jamaica take on Caribbean rivals, the Bahamas on Thursday night.
Among those cheering on every steal, rebound, point, and chanting “defence” when the Bahamas were in offence were retired track and field stars Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.
“It’s always nerve wracking you know. It’s always easier to be on the field than actually on the sidelines, so for me it’s always tough, but again I am Jamaican through and through so I am always going to support and hope for the best and these guys have shown throughout their journey that they are fighters and that they are always going to do their best for the country,” Bolt told The Gleaner.
“Well (it’s) very, very important because all of us we are representing Jamaica and from you come here as an athlete and you’re an athlete you understand everything that the athletes are going through and we know they need the support, so definitely me coming here and other athletes coming here, it’s a big plus for us,” Powell said.
Retired national defender Ian ‘Pepe’ Goodison knows first-hand how intense it is to vie for qualification to the world’s biggest stage, having helped Jamaica qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
“Anyt’ing fi duh wid Jamaica, we always support each other whether football, netball, basketball we have fi turn up. Yuh dun know, former Reggae Boyz everybody used to support mi so why not? Watching it you’re nervous at the start of the game cause at the end of the day, you want your country fi win and you team fi win, so you kinda nervous,” Goodison said.
Dancehall artiste Aidonia, who performed during the half-time break, was pleased with the fan support.
“Well the fan support was crazy, the people dem deh yah, the energy did high, you can see the people dem actually love basketball and ting. We did hope dem would win inna di night yah but we love this fi Jamaica, love the unity, whole heapa other artiste deh yah, whole heapa other musician deh yah, whole heapa other sport people deh yah suh wi just wah di yute dem gwan play hard, put God first, be strong and just build Jamaica for basketball,” said Aidonia.
The Jamaicans went down by six points and face Canada on Sunday but remain on course to advance to the next round of qualifiers as Jamaica hunt a historic place in the 2027 FIBA World Cup.
Group B standings
Canada – 6 points
Jamaica – 5 points
Bahamas – 4 points
Puerto Rico – 3 points
