NBA aims for Africa with Jo’ burg jaunt
The NBA will continue its push into Africa after the league announced on Saturday it will return to Johannesburg with an exhibition game pitting Team Africa against Team World.
In an ongoing effort to spread the basketball gospel, tap new markets and develop more players, the NBA will bring promising African players, including Bismack Biyombo of the Orlando Magic and the Denver Nuggets’ Emmanuel Mudiay, as well as American CJ McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers, to the Aug 5 showcase in South Africa.
Biyombo and Mudiay, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will play for Team Africa. McCollum will com- pete for Team World.
The full roster of players and coaches will be announced later.
It will mark the second time the NBA has staged a game in Africa, having also played in Johannesburg in 2015.
Team Africa will be comprised of players from Africa and second-generation Africans while Team World will include players from the rest of the world.
“NBA players are among the most popular athletes in the world, and we’re excited to continue the game’s global growth with this second game in Africa,” said National Basketball Players Association director Michele Roberts.
“Our players remain committed to growing the game on the continent, and this showcase will continue to build on the positive momentum we generated with the historic first game in 2015.”
With China already the NBA’s second biggest market after the United States, the league is looking for new countries to plant its flag, including non-traditional basketball markets like India and Africa.
A record 14 African players were on opening-night rosters
and more than 70 players from or with ties to the continent, including Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon from Nigeria and Congolese Dikembe Mutombo, have competed in the NBA.
Basketball Without Borders has been holding camps in Africa since 2003.
Four graduates of the program are currently with NBA teams: Los Angeles Clippers’ Luc Mbah a Moute, Toronto Raptors’ Pascal Siakam, Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, all from Cameroon; and Minnesota Timberwolves’ Gorgui
Dieng from Senegal.
The NBA is holding a Basketball Without Borders camp in New Orleans as part of AllStar Game festivities, exposing promising young talent from around the world to professional and college scouts.
While there will be 16 prospects from African nations attending the camp, none are from the seven mostly Muslim countries targeted by US President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions, which federal appeals-court judges have temporarily blocked.