BASKETBALL - The African Mirror

Nov

08

2023

Basketball Africa League expands to South Africa for fourth season tipping off in March 2024

BASKETBALL

THE Basketball Africa League (BAL) today announced that the league’s expanded fourth season will tip off in March 2024 in South Africa. The 2024 BALseason will feature the top 12 club teams from 12 African countries playing a record 48 games across four African countries – South Africa, Egypt, Senegal and Rwanda – over four months, marking the first BAL games in South Africa and the first time the league will play in four different countries. Also, for the first time, the 12 teams will be divided into three conferences of four teams each. Each conference will play a 12-game…

Oct

27

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

15 African players in the 2023/24 NBA

BASKETBALL

THE 2023/24 NBA season will feature 15 basketball players hailing from Africa, once again underscoring the continent's prominent presence in the global basketball arena. This season's rosters, recently unveiled by the NBA, reveal Nigeria leading the way, with a total of five of its citizens making the cut. In addition, Cameroon boasts three players, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has two. Angola, Mali, Senegal, South Sudan, and Sudan are each represented by a single player. Moreover, the press statement accompanying the announcement of international players featured in the upcoming season emphasizes a broader connection to Africa. The…

Oct

24

2023

By SILALEI SHANI, BIRD STORY AGENCY

The World of African Basketball

BASKETBALL

FORMER Kenya women's basketball team captain and international commentator Silalei Shani provides all the latest moves and grooves in this week's The World of African Basketball. After applying for American citizenship in a move that saddened many Cameroonians, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has come in for criticism again with the announcement that he would be playing for the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Embiid, who holds three passports, made his decision for family reasons and to follow his dream of winning an Olympic medal. “It was difficult. Obviously, I like all three options. I love my country…But…

Oct

03

2023

By The African Mirror

2023 Royal Bafokeng Jr. NBA finals conclude in North West

BASKETBALL

THOUSANDS of Bafokeng youth gathered at Royal Marang in Phokeng, North West on Saturday, September 30, to cap off a week-long celebration of the 11th Jr. NBA basketball season as six boys and girls teams won their championship games in the 2023 Royal Bafokeng Jr. NBA Finals. Lebone Primary School U14 (Girls) Bonwakgogo Primary School U14 (Boys), HF Tlou Secondary School U16 (Girls), Tshukudu Secondary School U16 (Boys), Kitsong School U18 (Girls) and Lebone II College U18 (Boys) were crowned the 2023 Royal Bafokeng Jr. NBA champions in their respective primary school and secondary school age categories. The final day…

Sep

25

2023

By The African Mirror

African Basketball News: Senegal season wraps, South Sudan ranked top in Africa and Mills heads to Central Africa

BASKETBALL

WITH the Road to BAL qualifier fixtures recently released, the conversation moves to transfers - including technical teams and players. One notable move is the appointment of trailblazing Australian basketball coach, Liz Mills, to lead Central African Republic’s Bangui Sporting Club. Mills, who has worked with African men’s basketball for many years, including a stint with Ivory Coast’s ABC Fighters, who she led to the 2023 BAL quarterfinals, expressed her excitement at the new challenge. “It’s all about creating the right environment to be successful and I think that starts at the top…creating an honest, trustworthy, and transparent environment, that’s…

May

25

2023

By SILALEI SHANI, BIRD STORY AGENCY

The stage is set for Africa’s biggest basketball event of the year: BAL playoffs in Kigali

BASKETBALL

THE Basketball Africa League’s Nile Conference which took place between April 26 and May 6 at the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo ended with Petro de Luanda defeating Al Ahly in a game that went to the wire; Gerson Goncalves scored a buzzer-beating tip-in to win the Nile Conference for his team, 91-90. The win will see the Angola team enter the playoffs in Kigali as the league favourites, after finishing third and then second in the previous two editions of the competition. Angolan Carlos Morais was a standout player during the tournament and continued to set an exemplary…

May

04

2023

By The African Mirror

Embid become the 2nd African to win NBA MVP Award

BASKETBALL

PHILADELPHIA 76ers centre Joel Embiid has won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award for the first time, the league announced. Embiid was chosen over Denver Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic, to whom he lost the award in the past two seasons, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won back-to-back awards in 2019 and 2020. The Cameroonian big man received 73 first-place votes from a panel of 100 broadcasters and journalists, marking the fifth consecutive win for an international player. The 29-year-old is only the second African player to become MVP after Nigerian-American Hakeem Olajuwon from the Houston Rockets in the…

Apr

25

2023

By SILALEI SHANI, BIRD STORY AGENCY

West African players dominate the international basketball scene

BASKETBALL

AFTER a head-turning performance at the Sahara Conference edition of the Basketball African League qualifiers, Central African Republic (CAR) prodigy, Thierry Serge Darlan, has made his mark once again with a selection to the Nike Hoop Summit World team. The 24th edition of the annual event brings together the top international athletes who are 19 and younger, to face the top American high school seniors and Darlan received high praise from CAR basketball federation president, Aime Serge Singha-Bengba. Thierry Darlan receives his jersey from the Nike Hoop Summit. Photo Courtesy: NBA Academy Africa “Thierry Serge Darlan is selected today. It…

Mar

23

2023

By The African Mirror

The NBA’s development league and South Sudan’s incredible feat; the latest in African basketball

BASKETBALL

SILALEI SHANI, BIRD STORY AGENCY WHEN NBA Academy Africa point guard Thierry Darlan recently revealed he would be joining the NBA developmental team G League Ignite, over a host of college offers, he finally put to rest concerns over his 2023 career plans. Despite scholarship offers from top basketball colleges like Arizona, Kansas, and Santa Clara and being NBA draft eligible this year, Darlan chose to go the route of the NBA development league. The league was previously named the NBA Development League, or D League until a Gatorade sponsorship, starting in the 2017-2018 season. "Many NCAA programs called me.…

Feb

23

2023

By The African Mirror

Afrobeats and the lure of Cape Town: Basketball’s spotlight on the continent returns

SPORT, BASKETBALL

SILALEI SHANI, BIRD STORY AGENCY THE early February announcement by Zaire Wade, the son of NBA Legend Dwayne Wade, that he had signed to play for the Basketball Africa League's (BAL) team, the Cape Town Tigers, in the 2023 season, has made waves in both basketball and sporting circles, across Africa. The 6'1 guard, who has been plying his trade with the NBA's G-League team, the Salt Lake City Stars, participated in the BAL Combine in Paris. The 2-day scouting event, which took place in January, drew 30 players from Africa, Europe, and the U.S., aspiring to play in Africa's…