Former Lobo teammates Snell (Team USA) and Kirk (Team Japan) fare well in international games

Without question, Alex Kirk stood out at Nikkan Arena in Tochigi, Japan, last week.

First off, he was one of the best basketball players on the court with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots. And then there was the other matter. He was the only 6-foot-11-inch redhead in a Team Japan jersey.

“Haha,” Kirk wrote in a text message exchange with the Journal, admitting “not sure that one has been done before! A few other white guys, but no red heads.”

The former UNM Lobo star and Los Alamos High graduate has fared quite well in Japan’s top professional basketball league. And after a several-year process, Kirk is now a naturalized citizen of Japan and suited up Nov. 21 for Japan’s national team in an Asia Cup- qualifying game against Mongolia — a game in which Japan cruised to a 93-75 victory.

Kirk’s old Lobos teammate Tony Snell is also donning a national team jersey, for Team USA.

Snell is a nine-year NBA veteran now playing for the Sioux Falls Sky Force in the NBA G League.

“I got a last-minute call from my agent saying Team USA was giving me the opportunity to play for them,” Snell told the Journal. “It was a no-brainer.”

Snell played two games for the national team in the past week at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. He helped USA Basketball win a pair of qualifying games to get Team USA qualified for next summer’s AmeriCup event in Nicaragua.

Snell averaged 5.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists while hitting three 3-pointers in Team USA wins over Puerto Rico (Nov. 22) and Bahamas (Monday).

For both Snell and Kirk, this past week’s opportunity in international qualifier games might be one-and-done situations, but that doesn’t mean they were any less special to the players.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to represent the United States,” Snell said, adding there is no other scheduled USA Basketball event for him at the moment.

The US Men’s National Team uses its top NBA stars for the more prominent events such as the Olympics, World Championships or even the AmeriCup while rosters of G-League players like Snell, Frank Kaminsky and David Stockton take on the duty of playing qualifying events.

Kirk was one of two naturalized American players playing center for Team Japan last week. FIBA rules allow for one naturalized player per roster, like Cameroon-born NBA star Joel Embiid did this past summer for Team USA in the Paris Olympics. Kirk played one qualifier game and 6-10 former Washington State center Joshua Hawkinson played in the other.

“This summer, I was invited to (work out with the national team), but was allowed to miss (training) camp because Rachael (Kirk’s wife) was giving birth to Kai (the couple’s first son),” Kirk told the Journal.

Kirk in 2013 wore a Team USA jersey when he was selected to play on the World University Games team between his junior and senior seasons as a Lobo. His wife, Rachael Adams, has played for Team USA volleyball in international competition.

Embarking on the lengthy process to become a naturalized citizen of Japan, Kirk notes, wasn’t for this opportunity, but rather because it benefits him in his professional playing career.

After living in the country for five years, he was allowed to apply for citizenship.

“There are a series of meetings with the government basically telling you how difficult it is to do, gathering every piece of paperwork from your past and getting a lot of information on all the family members,” Kirk said. “All these meetings are completely in Japanese which makes it tough. Then after you get your paperwork submitted, you have a full interview and Japanese language test.”

Kirk said the nerve-racking two-hour interview, in Japanese, was in addition to case workers visiting his house and his place of work. He was ultimately approved, though more than a year after his first meetings.

The benefit for him professionally is that teams in his league are allowed only a certain number of “imports,” or American-born players. As a naturalized citizen, Kirk no longer fills one of those spots, making him more valuable to teams the top Japanese league as well as making him eligible to play for Team Japan.

Like Snell, Kirk said he isn’t sure about the future of his playing for Team Japan, noting there will be another training camp before the AsiaCup in Saudi Arabia next summer, where he can try out if he chooses.