https://www.kzs.si/novica/jaxson-hayes-podal-prisego-in-prejel-slovenski-potni-list

> Washington / Ljubljana – After the competent authorities recently issued all the necessary approvals and documentation for extraordinary naturalization and acquisition of Slovenian citizenship, Jaxson Hayes took the oath at the Slovenian Embassy in Washington.

> The 26-year-old American center is 213 centimeters tall. Last season, he played 75 games for the Los Angeles Lakers - 65 in the regular season and 10 in the playoffs. He averaged 18 minutes on the court and contributed 7.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Hayes will not be eligible to represent Slovenia in the upcoming FIBA World Cup qualifying window, but thereafter will be eligible to play for the team.

wqra_ | Lakers

68 | 3 hours ago

crazy job security

Vordeo | Jazz

2 | 2 hours ago

So… Lakers are re-signing him, aren’t they?

HenrikCrown | Pelicans

34 | 3 hours ago

Well now Luka is not playing so he got stuck with it

Cul_what | Lakers

28 | 3 hours ago

Bro wants to stay with Luka so bad now that he had a taste of his lobs

Excellent-Brothel-72 | Trail Blazers

19 | 3 hours ago

On what grounds lmao?

braddeus | Heat

29 | 3 hours ago

His birth name was actually Jakša Haysič

Poshastko | Lakers

10 | 3 hours ago

You mean Jaka Hojs.

m-rch-nts | Lakers

21 | 3 hours ago

Slovenia has a provision in its citizenship law that allows the government to grant citizenship to basically anyone if it deems it to be in the national interest (I think that’s pretty standard actually)

Coattail-Rider

5 | 2 hours ago

So $$$$$

Or €€€€€ I guess

lifestepvan | Supersonics

9 | 3 hours ago

Are you new to international Fiba ball? This has been going on forever, some countries are more brazen with it than others.

I remember Chris Kaman getting a German passport because his great-grandparents were immigrants from Germany. Apparently back then the federal minister of the interior personally intervened to make an exception, lol.

Excellent-Brothel-72 | Trail Blazers

3 | an hour ago

Yeah look I get that it doesn’t take a strong link to play for a country (I think Chapman was considering playing for GB in the WBC given his grandfather was Jamaican when it was a British territory), but I don’t think Hayes has any link to Slovenia. Like I wasn’t looking for a good reason, just a reason.

bh6891 | Thunder

0 | 3 hours ago

Didn’t Ivory Coast have a white dude playing for them a few years ago?

ShawshankException | Knicks

9 | 3 hours ago

White people live in Africa too lol

Coattail-Rider

0 | 2 hours ago

That makes sense. If it turns out Hayes has Slovenian ancestry, that’d make sense, too. If it’s just “guns for hire” shit then it’s a joke.

wqra_ | Lakers

1 | an hour ago

It’s been a rule since 1999 and has been used in other sports in the Olympics for decades it is what it is

Coattail-Rider

1 | 32 minutes ago

And it’s been a joke everytime someone uses it.

ThinkSoftware | Hawks

2 | 3 hours ago

On Slovenian embassy ground I believe

GloryMaelstrom21 | NBA

16 | 3 hours ago

Jaxson Hayesič will have his passing buff

Novel-Wait328

1 | an hour ago

Jaka Hajs

terry-tea | Celtics

13 | 3 hours ago

Jaxson Hayes is Luka Doncic brother

ZandrickEllison

11 | 3 hours ago

Good for him (I guess?) It’s about as brazen of Olympic manipulation as you’d get though.

DybantsaMakeHerDance | Wizards

5 | 3 hours ago

Famous Filipino Andray Blatche

wqra_ | Lakers

2 | 3 hours ago

The FIBA rules allow it and they operate the Olympics, i think its limited it to 1 naturalised citizen per team.

ZandrickEllison

1 | 2 hours ago

That’s the rule, no doubt. But I think it goes against the spirit of the Olympics.

Crispy_Comment9312 | Nuggets

5 | 3 hours ago

Never been a fan of this type of thing

AccomplishedRainbow1 | Suns

3 | 3 hours ago

Finally

bluebirdsmallbird | 76ers

5 | 3 hours ago

Luka: if you’re not jumping, you’re not slovenian
Jaxson: well I guess I’m Slovenian, cause I’m jumping

turns out he meant that shit 😭 (it’s from a yt video of Luka teaching them phrases in his language)

GEQBUSDarnold

2 | 3 hours ago

Imagine Luka throwing lobs to Hayes

Adorable_Call3025

2 | 3 hours ago

Not a fan of it, but the US did practically the same thing with Hakeem and Embiid.

Coattail-Rider

1 | 2 hours ago

Yeah, but if Hayes was living and playing ball in Slovenia, it’d be similar. He’s not. So it’s not.

binhpac

1 | 2 hours ago

not comparable because both have lived in the US at least.

there are more controversial “naturalizations” like Jordan Loyd who plays for the polish national team. no family connection, never lived there also before and was immediatly their best player.

but then its also so dumb to let someone naturalize just because they find in their family tree some connection from 1000 years ago. and who is gonna verify that those researches are good enough or not? the FIBA or some courts?

So in that regard, its more fair, to say, hey every team can play 1 naturalized player.

Nuts2Buttts

1 | 29 minutes ago

He’s skipping town before his assault charges get heard in court

croissant_titty | Pistons

-1 | 3 hours ago

What a joke lol they’re turning international basketball into a total sham if every country can just have American players

m-rch-nts | Lakers

8 | 3 hours ago

Teams are limited to one naturalised citizen, he’s the only one

IAmRudyTomjanovicAMA | Rockets

9 | 3 hours ago

You don’t understand, slovenia is gonna win every international tournament now that they have jaxson hayes.

croissant_titty | Pistons

2 | 3 hours ago

Listen Rudy T you’re from Michigan and a stud coach so I love you but you don’t need to be obtuse about my point

IAmRudyTomjanovicAMA | Rockets

1 | 3 hours ago

sorry, i’ll try to reduce my shitposting on this sub

Threshyyyyy

4 | 3 hours ago

I really love how some people think that having one naturalized player is worst for the competition than countries with 300mil people competing against countries with less than 2mil people. Not to mention that this rule has been established in 1999 but somehow some people got this news in 2026.

croissant_titty | Pistons

-1 | 3 hours ago

We’ve gotten boatraced before internationally many times by Argentina, Italy, hell our own territory Puerto Rico whooped our ass in 2004. Population size doesn’t matter I just want to see best on best from each country, with players who are actually from there

Novel-Wait328

1 | an hour ago

crazy take

croissant_titty | Pistons

1 | an hour ago

What is crazy about that lol that’s what makes things like the World Cup and the Olympics cool

Coattail-Rider

0 | 2 hours ago

u/croissant_titty has a point

lifestepvan | Supersonics

4 | 3 hours ago

This has been happening for decades, noone is turning anything into anything.

croissant_titty | Pistons

-2 | 3 hours ago

Oh ok FIBA has been allowing it that must mean it’s all good

lifestepvan | Supersonics

1 | 3 hours ago

I didn’t comment on that. But your lack of awareness of that fact does put your opinion into perspective.

croissant_titty | Pistons

1 | an hour ago

I guess but it’s just a ridiculous concept. Take the World Cup for example just imagine if Pulisic just decided he wanted to go play for Portugal or something, you’d understand why but that’d be BS. Yes I know that’s not a perfect example because Jaxon Hayes isn’t Pulisic level but the point is these international competitions are fun because you get to see how each country’s best stacks up, and representing a country you aren’t from is dumb

lifestepvan | Supersonics

1 | 41 minutes ago

Oh boy do I have news for you about the world cup.

There’s a TON of naturalised guys out there. Balogun is a citizen only by his mom getting stuck in NYC while pregnant. And your current president wants to get rid of that rule…

janronin31 | Kings Bandwagon

0 | 3 hours ago

Only people joining are those not good enough to be in team usa lol. How would it be a joke if team usa still keeps dominating

spiritnueve | Celtics

1 | 3 hours ago

I mean having naturalized players with no ties to the country is always pathetic.

I remember when Lorenzo Brown got his Spanish citizenship and dude couldn’t speak one full sentence in Spanish.

janronin31 | Kings Bandwagon

0 | 3 hours ago

Everyone gets 1 naturalized spot so its only fair

spiritnueve | Celtics

3 | 3 hours ago

That’s not the point lol. Representing a country you have no interest in is a joke.

m-rch-nts | Lakers

0 | 3 hours ago

There are a lot of diaspora players who have citizenship of a country through their parents or even grand- or great-grandparents despite not speaking the language or ever living there. Is this really that much worse?

spiritnueve | Celtics

2 | 3 hours ago

Yes it is. Having the slightest ties to the country is better than going “Yeah I want to play with Luka”

Novel-Wait328

1 | an hour ago

muricans real scared of luka with semi-competent center

croissant_titty | Pistons

1 | 3 hours ago

The entire point of these competitions is to show which countries are the best at basketball, ie who produces the best players and can put together the best team. Not really a win for Slovenia if they’re gonna win with American players

janronin31 | Kings Bandwagon

2 | 3 hours ago

Its jaxson hayes bruh

croissant_titty | Pistons

1 | 3 hours ago

Its the principle behind it bruh

Novel-Wait328

1 | an hour ago

except if its joel embiid

croissant_titty | Pistons

1 | an hour ago

No I very much thought it was dumb and corrupt that Embiid got to play for Team USA, but even then Embiid at least lived in America for like a decade before he became a citizen

wqra_ | Lakers

2 | 3 hours ago

Slovenia’s total population is lower than that of Houston they have no playable centers

Coattail-Rider

1 | 2 hours ago

Then maybe they shouldn’t be playing in a basketball tournament? Plenty of things I don’t qualify for and no one’s making exceptions for me. Or for most people for that matter.

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes has received his Slovenian passport, meaning he will soon be eligible to play for the Slovenian National Team