Former Canadian-Bahamian NBA player Rick Fox appointed as senator in Bahamas

Former NBA player Rick Fox has been appointed to the Bahamian Senate, taking up one of four seats reserved for members of the opposition.

The appointment of Fox, who belongs to the Free National Movement (FNM), to the 16-member Senate came days after he lost a bid to be elected to the Bahamian House of Assembly.

"Picked Rick - Soon to be sworn in to the upper house: Rick Fox!" the FNM wrote on Facebook late on Sunday.

Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fox, who was born in Canada to a Bahamian father and Canadian mother, played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association as a forward for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics.

He won three NBA titles with the Lakers from 2000 to 2002 and retired in 2004.

The former basketball star entered Bahamian politics when the governing Progressive Liberal Party appointed him to serve as an ambassador-at-large in 2022.

He later joined the opposition and launched a bid to serve as a member of parliament for the Garden Hills constituency.

-Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Edwina Gibbs/Reuters