Basketball Africa League reveals debut host cities
NEW YORK: The NBA-backed Basketball Africa League (BAL) unveiled host cities Tuesday for its inaugural season, with Kigali, Rwanda, as the named host city for the first semi-final and championship games. Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Lagos, Nigeria; Luanda, Angola; Rabat, Morocco and a Tunisian city, Tunis or Monastir, were announced as the sites for BAL regular-season games. The BAL, featuring 12 club teams from across Africa, is set to begin play in March 2020.
“Today’s announcements mark another important milestone as we head into what will be a historic first season,” BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall said. The 12 teams will be divided into two six-team conferences, each conference playing games in three of the six host cities. Each team will play five regular-season games, with the top three clubs in each conference advancing to the playoffs.
The “Super Six” will play a roundrobin format to determine the BAL Final Four that advance to Kigali in late spring 2020 for the single-game elimination
semi-finals and final. The BAL also announced Nike and the Jordan Brand would each provide the official uniforms and gear for six of the clubs in the league’s first business partnership. The NBA announced its first collaboration to operate a league outside North America in February, working alongside world governing body FIFA. Both plan to dedicate financial support and resources for training of African players, coaches and referees.
Trail Blazers agree on extension
The Portland Trail Blazers have agreed on a three-year, $100 million NBA contract extension with guard CJ McCollum, US media reported Tuesday. ESPN, citing McCollum’s agent, reported the deal, and the player himself responded Tuesday to congratulatory tweets from teammate Jusuf Nurkic and other NBA players. McCollum, who would have become an unrestricted free agent after the 2020-21 season, instead looks set to stay in Portland for five seasons.
McCollum played a key role in the Blazers’ Western Conference semi-final victory over the Denver Nuggets, scoring 37 points in game seven to help Portland reach the conference finals. The Trail Blazers were swept by the Golden State Warriors, but will be aiming to contend again in the upcoming season after locking up both McCollum and Damian Lillard. The Blazers have inked Lillard to a four-year, $196 million extension. — AFP