For the first time, the National Basketball Association (NBA) will have several top players descend on Joburg this week for a game. The sold-out game features Team Africa against Team World and will be played in support of the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, the SOS Children’s Villages Association of South Africa and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Already, word is out that some of the players have landed and if you are an NBA fan, you are in for a treat.
Let’s look at the teams and speculate who is likely to win the first game in Africa. Team Africa comprises mainly NBA players who were either born in Africa or are second-generation African players. These include the team captain, two-time NBA All-Star Luol Deng, who plays for Miami Heat (now based in the UK, but born in South Sudan), Al-Farouq Aminu (signed to Portland Trail Blazers, born in the US, but his parents are Nigerian), Giannis Antetokounmpo (of the Milwaukee Bucks, born in Greece to Nigerian parents), Nicolas Batum (of the Charlotte Hornets, born France and the child of Cameroonian parents), Bismack Biyombo (of the Toronto Raptors, born in the DRC), Boris Diaw (of the San Antonio Spurs, born in France to a parent from Senegal), Gorgui Dieng (of the Minnesota Timberwolves, born in Senegal), Festus Ezeli (of Golden State Warriors, who is Nigerian), Serge Ibaka (of the Oklahoma City Thunder and from Congo) and Cameroonian Luc Mbah a Moute, who plays for Sacramento Kings.
If you know your basketball then you’ll know Africa is looking really good, although we can’t take the world team for granted as they have good players, too. Eight-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul (LA Clippers) has some-thing to prove after losing a spot in the finals last season. Spanish brothers Marc (Memphis Grizzlies) and Pau (Chicago Bulls) Gasol are a troublesome pair and it will be great see them play on the same team. Other threats to an African win include Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards; US), Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets; US), Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics; US), Evan Turner (Boston Celtics; US) and Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic; Montenegro).
The NBA were not holding back as they also have five-time NBA champion and current Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich coaching Team Africa, while Brooklyn Nets coach Lionel Hollins will coach Team World.
The organisers should be commended for getting quality players and coaches. The other positive thing that comes out of this is the annual Basketball Without Borders initiative which sees several young African basketball players go into camps to be coached by these pros. It doesn’t get any better than that because the scouts are also present and good things are bound to happen for the most talented players.
With this in mind, Trace Sports Stars (DStv Channel 188) have packaged an NBA All-Star special (Saturday at 2.55pm) which looks at the NBA’s interests in territories outside the US. Look out for the behind-the-scenes All-Star weekend with LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Commissioner Adam Silver.
The Team Africa vs Team World game airs live on Saturday on SuperSport, 3pm.