22 January 2013

AFRICA : NBA sees Africa's potential

SHEFFIELD (Júlio Chitunda’s African Message) - The NBA has never been as close to Africa as it currently is.
Not only because of the record number of African players competing in a single NBA season, but also because of its grassroots presence in the continent.
Last Thursday, the NBA played its third regular season game in London in the last three years, and, of course, it attracted a considerable number of international media, seeking to find out more about the league's connections to their countries.
Africa was no exception.
In a packed press conference, NBA Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver outlined the league's plans of internalisation.
When it came to commenting on plans for Africa, Stern paused a few seconds before his explanation.
"Well," he said, "Amadou Gallo Fall (head of the NBA's office in Africa) keeps heading more employees to the (NBA) Johannesburg's office.
"He started up with one, and he stole one of our employees from the New York office, employed him there, and we have basketball operations.
"He seems absolutely determined to have an extended grassroots presence and increase our television coverage, both of which he has achieved in a remarkable fashion.
"He keeps up with visits from Basketball without Borders (BWB), we went to South Africa for a ninth year in a row," Stern added.
"Sponsorship businesses, companies that want to fund us and increase our grassroots and other presence are there.
"We think that Africa - as a continent of a billion people whose development of smart phones and the likes - is proceeding apace, it is an extraordinary potential market for the NBA.
"He (Amadou Gallo Fall) doesn't stop talking about it, and he has been very forceful in helping us to generate serious business there," Stern pointed out.
In other words, Africa has as much potential to offer as any other continent. All it needs is professionalism and passion to develop the basketball business.
During the 30-minute meeting, the international media focused mainly on seeing the NBA coming back to Europe either for friendly games or, more interestingly, for more regular season games.
Over the past 20 years, the NBA presence outside US has allowed for a significant number of international players to cross the Atlantic and become household names in the league without previous experience in the US.
London's O2 arena registered a sell-out house for last Thursday's game between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks, something that would repeat itself in places with a strong basketball following, including Africa.
However, an NBA game is much more than two teams facing each other. It involves high technology, advanced marketing, entertainment and engagement to the community - a lot of serious business.
Stern may not have said that Africa does not have appropriate facilities to accommodate NBA games, but basketball commitments in the continent would not doubt it.
Three years ago, South Africa successfully hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a sign that, despite its deficiencies, hosting an NBA game is not a mirage for Africa, but a real possibility.
When asked about playing more pre-season games in China, Stern replied that "everything is on the table as we access our international growth."
No doubts, that it would be great to see NBA games being played in Africa, but, inexplicably, very few countries, despite their passion for the game, would step forward to fulfil the requirements, even though Stern branded the continent as a "potential market" for the NBA.
There are currently eight African-born players in the league, bearing the African flag in the NBA.
Steve Nash (South Africa/Canada), Luc Mbah a Moute (Cameroon), De Sagana Diop (Senegal), Bismack Biyombo (DR Congo), Festus Ezeli (Nigeria), Luol Deng (South Sudan/Great Britain), Hasheem Thabeet (Tanzania), Serge Ibaka (Republic of Congo/Spain) and Al Farouq Aminu (USA/Nigeria) are NBA players with their roots in Africa.
The continent’s NBA connection started three decades ago when Dikembe Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon became the African pioneers in the league.
The tendency suggests an even bigger African presence in the NBA, given the number of young African players in the US colleges’ programmes.
If the NBA - with its ability to promote the game - becomes fully established in Africa, perhaps African players would not need to gain recognition in Europe or at the American collegiate level before they join NBA teams.
Realistically, basketball professionalism is highly needed in Africa in order to host NBA games and capitalize from the experience.
Júlio Chitunda (FIBA)

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