Obama believes the NBA's expanded involvement in Africa can have a powerful impact off the courtGETTY IMAGES
The NBA and FIBA plan to launch a new professional league, the Basketball Africa League (BAL), featuring 12 club teams from across Africa. The league is scheduled to begin play in January '20, and would mark the NBA's first involvement with the operation of a league outside of North America. The NBA also plans to introduce a re-imagined direct-to-consumer offering of games for fans in Africa by next season (NBA). In N.Y., Kevin Draper noted many details, "including which clubs from which countries will be part of the league, have yet to be finalized." But NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that President Obama "would be involved in the league in an unspecified capacity" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/17). Obama over the weekend tweeted, "I've always loved basketball because it's about building a team that's equal to more than the sum of its parts. Glad to see this expansion into Africa because for a rising continent, this can be about a lot more than what happens on the court" (L.A. TIMES, 2/17). YAHOO SPORTS' Ben Weinrib noted there are "already several professional teams across Africa, but this league will attempt to unify them into one place while providing financial support, resources and training." There will be qualifying tournaments "held to determine which teams make the league with the nations of Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia likely to be represented" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 2/16). Basketball HOFer Dikembe Mutombo said, "We were trying to find a way to grow the game on the continent. Now, the commissioner made it happen." Silver added, "We did this because players like Dikembe pointed to the opportunity that existed, not just in basketball, but the sports industry throughout the continent" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 2/16).
SORTING IT OUT: In South Africa, Stuart Hess notes for "all the excitement" that the announcement brought, the details of the new league at this stage are "thin." It is "only scheduled to start next year, but a lot of work awaits, not least of all, figuring out logistics like travel arrangements, hotels and where the games in this new competition will be played." For now, the competition "will rely on an existing competition, the African Basketball League hosted by FIBA, pig-backing on it, while the NBA works through some important details; like how its competition will run, where it will be run and most importantly how much backing it can get financially." The new league "needs something more tangible for prospective backers to invest in than just a lot of flowery talk" (Johannesburg STAR, 2/18).
