FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – In a single lifetime, few people have the opportunity to represent their country on the international stage playing one of their favorite sports. Fewer still, however, get the chance to go back and do it again in what is literally a whole different ballgame.
But New England Revolution II goalkeeper JD Gunn will be doing exactly that this month, as he joins up with the Panama Men’s National Team for the first senior call-up of his footballing career. As it happens, Gunn, 24, also represented his home country at the youth level in basketball, participating in the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship and leading his team in both points (11.2) and rebounds (7.8) per game in the competition, according to FIBA records. Now, his inclusion in the senior men’s soccer squad for this month’s international window, during which Los Canaleros will face both the United States and Canada in friendly matches, would seem to make Gunn the first Panamanian – and potentially the first athlete broadly – to represent his country in both basketball and association football.
NBA star Dennis Schröder made headlines earlier this year when he followed the end of his Brooklyn Nets’ 23/24 season with his professional soccer debut with FC Germania Bleckenstedt of Germany’s sixth tier. Of course, the German baller won’t be likely to trade Olympic hoops for World Cup football any time soon, nor does Gunn think a return to the parquet is necessarily on the cards for him going forward – “Now I’m not so good because I barely touch a basketball,” he told revolutionsoccer.net last week. But Gunn, like Schröder and a handful of others before him, said he was excited not only to have the opportunity to represent his nation at the top level of his chosen sport, but also to join the special class of multi-sport athletes that capture the fascination of fans the world over.
On its own, a player’s first senior call-up is a massive achievement, and Gunn recognized that it was “definitely a super cool opportunity” for him, and a major step in his career, as well.
“Not everybody can say they get to play for the national team for their respective country, so obviously super honored, super blessed to do that,” he said. “It’s a privilege. I worked hard to get to this point; hopefully it’s just the beginning.”
And in terms of the competition, he could have hardly asked for two more challenging intra-confederation opponents than the Stars & Stripes and Les Rouges, not to mention the quality of teammates he’ll be around in the Panamanian camp.
“Obviously two really good teams,” Gunn said. “Probably two best teams in CONCACAF, so it should be good games and hopefully – I was looking at our squad that we’re bringing and it’s a pretty strong squad, as well, so I think we’ll be able to compete well, and hopefully get two positive results.”
The shot-stopper went on to say that he hoped to take as much if not more away from being around those in his own squad – a lineup featuring Nashville’s Aníbal Godoy and Houston’s Coco Carrasquilla, among others – as he would from potentially facing the U.S. or Canada.
“There’s a lot of guys with a lot of experience that are coming into that camp,” Gunn said. “Obviously, it’s my first call-up and this is my first year as a pro, so in terms of experience playing professional football and playing national team obviously I’m inexperienced in that regard. So, I’m just hoping to take away as much as I can from those guys, see how they’ve carried themselves throughout their career, and hopefully learn a thing or two from them.”
But as privileged as Gunn feels to represent Panama, this is not exactly the first time he has had that privilege. Originally hailing from Panama City, Panama, Gunn excelled in high school both on the pitch and on the hardwood at Wheaton Academy in West Chicago, Ill.; he was even the Warriors’ all-around 2018 Senior Athlete of the Year, no less. He may have eventually chosen soccer when it came to pursuing a professional career, but he couldn’t deny that basketball had his heart first – and, at the end of his senior year, he had the chance to imagine what life could be like if he made his hoop dreams a reality, getting called up for Panama in their U18 continental tournament.
“Basketball was always my primary sport growing up,” Gunn said. “It’s always what I wanted to do, play in the NBA and play college basketball and all that. That was also an honor, to play basketball for the national team for Panama. I made a lot of really good friends doing that, still good friends to this day. And, again, just any time you can represent your country in any type of way it’s an honor and it’s a blessing, so to be able to play basketball for my national team and play against guys that are now playing in the NBA was a really cool experience.”
Ever the humble young man (though he did admit off-microphone that he would sometimes prefer scoring goals to stopping them if he could), Gunn was modest enough to omit the names of his esteemed opponents. But in that FIBA tournament, as in this FIFA window, Panama counted the United States and Canada among their opponents, and current NBA players such as the Orlando Magic’s Cole Anthony and the Indiana Pacers’ Andrew Nembhard were among the rising stars at that 2018 competition.
And despite being understandably hesitant to name-drop, Gunn was happy to share about the player profile he brought to the court, betraying the love he still has in his heart for the game of basketball.
“Now I’m not so good because I barely touch a basketball, but I used to be a good shooter, so I liked to space the floor,” he said. “I liked the ball in my hands and liked to create my own shot. For Panama I was more a catch-and-shoot player, just because of the personnel that we had playing, which I can do, as well. But if I had to have it my way, I would say that I like the ball in my hands, I like to create either my own shot or create opportunities for my teammates.”
2018 was a consequential year for the young Gunn. Not only did he get this chance to represent Panama but, with graduation looming, it also saw him have to take a step back and reckon with the direction he wanted to take for his future – and in fact, the FIBA tournament actually came after he thought he had made up his mind.
“Senior year of high school I was still on the fence – ‘Should I play soccer in college? Should I play basketball?’ I was really having a difficult time,” Gunn shared. “Like I said, basketball is my first love, so to give it up was difficult. But at the very end of my senior year of high school, like in April, I committed to play college soccer. And then I had the tournament with Panama for basketball in June, and that was when we played against the U.S. and Canada and some guys that are playing in the NBA now. And I had a good tournament, I had a few D-1 schools that were interested in me. So, I was like, ‘Shoot, should I switch now and play basketball?’
“But I think I realized, after playing against the U.S. especially, how elite the level is to get to the NBA and to make it as a pro in basketball,” he said. “And at some point you’ve got to face reality and realize that you’re probably not going to make it, which was kind of where I was at. I really loved basketball, I was a good player, but I wasn’t going to be, you know, a 10-year NBA vet or anything. So, I felt like going the soccer route was the better decision; I felt like I had more potential. And I think now it speaks for itself that I made the right decision.”
To his point, if a senior call-up as a professional athlete isn’t a sign that someone’s made the right choice, then it’s hard to know what is. And although Revs II had a difficult 2024, Gunn felt that the year was a strong one for him personally, and one that he was definitely eager to keep building on.
“Obviously it’s been a difficult season for us results-wise,” he said. “I think it’s been a good year for me, just to get in the pro environment and train with the first team a lot as well, being in Leagues Cup on the bench with them and everything. So, I think in general it was a pretty solid year of experience, even though results didn’t necessarily go the way we wanted them to. But yeah, moving forward, like any player on the second team, hopefully you want to get to the first team, sign a first-team contract, end up playing with the first team. I know the first team goalkeepers are very good and there’s definitely a lot of work I have to do to get to that level. But I trust in myself and trust in my abilities, and so hopefully I can just keep working hard and reach that level. And then we’ll just go from there and see what happens.”
Trusting the process, and trusting himself, is a strategy that has served the Panamanian well thus far. It’s seen Gunn win himself two well-deserved international call-ups, and it could very well earn him a spot in MLS before long. Towering strikers and zooming wingers – and, if he gets the time for a pickup game, perhaps the odd power forward – have all been put on notice.
