Three young centers with African ties will debut in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 2024-25 season, with pundits praising the contributions African players are making to North America’s top professional basketball league. There is.
Cameroon’s Ulrich Chomche was the youngest draft pick in this year’s NBA Draft at the age of 18 and played his first game for the Toronto Raptors on October 23.
20-year-old Belgian-born, Cameroon-raised Yves Missi is playing for the New Orleans Pelicans this season, while 21-year-old Nigerian-born Adam Bona is on the Philadelphia 76ers roster.
An estimated 10 percent of current NBA players were born in African countries or have parents from Africa. This includes 2023 Most Valuable Player (MVP) Joel Embiid, who was born in Yaounde, Cameroon, and helped the United States win a gold medal in the men’s tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Greek international Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has Nigerian roots, won the coveted MVP award. He won the award in 2019 and 2020 and is considered one of the greatest players of all time.
In addition to the achievements of athletes with African roots, there are high expectations for the group’s future representatives in the NBA. In particular, 2023 NBA Draft No. 1 pick Victor Wembaneyama’s father has Congolese roots. Wenbanyama has been hailed as one of the most exciting athletes of his generation, and he has already won an Olympic silver medal with France to back up that claim.
With the growth of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), more talented players from Africa are expected to enter the NBA in the coming years. BAL completed its fourth season in June 2024, with Angola’s Petro de Luanda winning the championship.
“Thanks to BAL, we are exactly where we wanted to be when we started four years ago,” NBA Africa CEO Claire Akamanzi told BBC Sport Africa. “Our measures of success are, one, being known as a league and two, getting more countries involved.
“More than 25 countries are participating in the Path to BAL. What we have seen is that countries are motivated to start teams.”
