Africa finally on NBA's radar
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Wednesday, August 13
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - In ancient times, the Zulus referred to the city of Johannesburg as E'goli, or place of gold.
For centuries, all roads in Africa led to this place. The dream of each weary traveler or adventurer was to find his fortune in the sun soaked hills of this unusual city. Wars have been fought to claim it. The hideous doctrine of apartheid was hatched just north of here in Pretoria to keep the diverse races of people who had journeyed here out of its gates. Just outside, the dilapidated, sprawling township of Soweto, the home of Nelson Mandela, still serves as a painful reminder of how hate and greed can divide a nation.
The last of Johannesburg's gold ran out decades ago, but a new gold mine -- one with huge potential impact for both the NBA and the continent of Africa -- remains virtually untapped.
The young players in Africa are athletic, strong and, most importantly, tall. However, for the past few decades the NBA has relatively ignored Africa. Despite the success of such luminaries as Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe Mutombo, only a handful of African players have made the arduous journey to the NBA.
That is about to change.
"We're shining the light of the world on African basketball," NBA great Bob Lanier told a group of 126 young Africans as the NBA Africa 100 camp began on Wednesday here in Johannesburg. "You are the chosen ones. Great things are expected of you."
The camp is the NBA's first large-scale attempt to bring basketball to the continent of Africa. In the past decade, David Stern and others have made trips here to promote the game. Players like Olajuwon and Mutombo have been coming for years in an effort to improve the communities from which they came. But before Wednesday, nothing of this scale had ever been attempted.
Over the past year, organizers have set out to find a way to bring together the top 100 young African basketball players in one place. The camp itself was the brainchild of former Celtics guard Sam Vincent. Vincent is in his second year as head coach of the men's South African National Team. After spending two frustrating years trying to rebuild South Africa's national basketball program, Vincent became convinced that for basketball to really catch fire in Africa, he needed the NBA's help.
The people in Africa lacked vision, Vincent believed. They needed to get the religion only the NBA can produce to prosper.
At times the situation seemed nearly impossible. Many African countries are still hostile to each other. Getting things like visas and travel coordinated for players from 24 countries was daunting to say the least. Identifying and getting the talent to actually come (a few countries like Cameroon didn't send their top players) took months of lobbying.
Still somehow, Vincent and others made it happen.
"This was my dream a year ago," Vincent said. "We lack so many resources, both financially and from an experience standpoint. I knew if I could get the NBA involved, we'd benefit from both."
Sure enough, one year later, campers from every nation in Africa are here, wearing new red and yellow jerseys, drinking Sprite and sporting new Reeboks.
One player from Mali admitted it was his first real pair of basketball shoes.
NBA coaches and scouts are spending hours a day putting African players through drills and coaching them in games.
A kid from Burkino Faso said that this was the first time he'd ever ridden in an airplane or left his home country.
The knowledge these young players are receiving is even more priceless. Mutombo, Diop, Olumide Oyedeji, Ruben Boumtje-Boutmtje, Mamadou N'diaye and the Raptors' Michael Curry are here. They're joined by scouts and coaches from 14 NBA teams. Together, they are spending hours each day putting the kids through drills (like showing them how to block out on defense or do a drop step in the paint on offense) and then coaching them in games in the afternoon.
Off the court, they're also getting the information. The NBA, in connection with Lovelife (the largest AIDS prevention organization in Africa), is holding life skills seminars with the players every morning, addressing such topics as HIV/AIDS prevention, substance abuse, teamwork and leadership. The NBA is also opening up several Read to Achieve centers in the poor townships like Soweto and Ithuteng outside of Johannesburg.
"We expect other things of the chosen ones as well," Lanier explains. "We want them to be great people first and reach back into their communities. There is a bigger mission. A bigger objective."
Scouting Africa
Almost as important as the young players who showed up to play was the large contingent of NBA coaches and scouts who made the long trip to Johannesburg.
For most of them, scouting Europe is considered roughing it. It will be the first trip to Africa for virtually all of them. You can't discover what you cannot see.
"There can be a bit of a herd mentality in the NBA sometimes," Pistons international scouting guru Tony Ronzone said. "Ten years ago, very few scouts were in Europe. Now that there has been an explosion there, people are stampeding there. If you can find one or two really great young players in Africa, they'll come here too."
The door being opened here in Johannesburg isn't just for the kids. It's opening up a whole new world, an unspoiled treasure trove of talent, waiting to be explored.
Up until now, nothing has been easy. With political violence and corruption running rampant, national programs being run on a non-existent budgets and players escaping to the U.S. or Europe whenever opportunity arises, no one has been sure exactly where to go.
There have been early pioneers preaching the specific wonders of Africa for the past few years.
Mavs director of scouting, Amadou Gallo Fall, has been finding players in Senegal for years. Fall was largely behind DeSagna Diop's and Malick Badiane's entrance into the NBA. It comes as no surprise that he was named the Camp Director of the Africa 100 Camp.
Nuggets international scout Masai Ujiri, also at the camp, coaches the Nigerian junior national team in the summer and has a firm handle on the top talent in Africa.
After that, the number of knowledgeable sources are scarce. One 15-year-old Senegal player, Samba Gueye, was certainly the buzz coming into camp. That is, until I realized hours later, that all of the American scouts declaring him the best young player here had never seen him play.
At least they had heard of Gueye. The rest? Scouts and coaches were scrambling just like everyone else to pick Fall's and Ujiri's brain as the camp got under way.
"The players here are very raw and very young," Fall said. "Most of them are just now learning organized basketball. Some people may have gotten their hopes up too high."
True. As scouts quickly found out, Africa's Top 100 is a figure of speech. Most of the top young Africans are playing in small leagues in Europe or are attending school in the U.S. What you have here are the guys who didn't get that far.
Even from there, it was clear that that players from Nigeria and Senegal, in particular, were far more advanced than players from other countries.
"Africa has a rich history of basketball in some countries and it is just developing in others," Anicet Lavodrama, manager of international relations and development for FIBA, said. "Places like Senegal, Egypt, Angola, Nigeria have a history. They also have an infrastructure in place. They can train their coaches, offer facilities and consistent competition. That's why players from some countries tend to be better than others."
It's safe to say, from an early glance at the players here at the camp, that none of them are what you would call "NBA ready." They're more like "high school ready."
But for folks like Mutombo and Fall, that isn't the point. The camp isn't meant to be Africa's version of the Chicago pre-draft camp. It's an attempt to bring two very different cultures together -- NBA basketball and African basketball -- hoping that a marriage between the two will produce beautiful children somewhere down the road.
Higher Learning
Interestingly enough, most of the campers don't have their sights set on the NBA. They do, however, almost unanimously want to go to an American high school or college. If basketball gets them there, so be it.
"This is what is instilled in young kids in most African countries," Lavodrama said. "You want to go get your diploma and become somebody. This is how kids in Africa become somebody. The kids want to play in the NBA, but they want the education first. This is the key."
One Senegalese player, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Fall, is waiting on a visa to the United States so that he can enroll in a high school basketball powerhouse, Oak Hill. Other players spoke wistfully of their dreams of getting a real education. If basketball gets them there, then so be it.
Diop, who made the unprecedented move of going straight to the NBA from high school, said that people back home were disappointed. "An education is very important where I'm from. I can play basketball well, but everyone wants to know what I've learned."
Boumtje-Boumtje agrees. "When I would call home from Georgetown, no one ever asked me how the basketball was going. They all worried about the degree."
So, it's with great irony that no NCAA or high school coaches are here. It's a dead time in the recruiting season. They're not allowed to come.
Still, the kids are praying that somehow the word gets out. Between the scouts, agents (yes, they're here too) and the media taping the event, the real dream is that a college coach somewhere catches a glimpse of a kid and offers him a ticket to the United States.
Even if that doesn't happen (and it won't for most) it doesn't take long to feel a profound sense of gratitude from the players here.
"Our hearts are open wide to the people of the NBA for coming here and teaching us," Moussa Outtara, from Burkina Faso, said. "We will use this opportunity to become better people and better players. We know it may not happen again."
That seems unlikely. Both participants and organizers of the Africa 100 Camp are already talking about making this an annual event. Still, for the next week at least, Johannesburg can rightfully call itself E'goli again.
Coming Friday: Inside the NBA Africa 100 Camp -- breaking down the top players here in Johannesburg.
-----------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Thursday, September 4
Updated: September 4
7:41 AM ET
McDyess
New York Knicks: There is a 100 percent chance that the New York Knicks are going to open up camp in a month or so and, according to a published report, a 90 percent chance that Antonio McDyess' left knee will be healed enough to join the team at that time and start the season on the active roster."They're going to be super cautious this time around," said a person with knowledge of McDyess' rehabilitation in the NY Daily News. "Even if Antonio thinks he's ready to play, they're going to wait until the season starts before he sees action." Officially, the Knicks say they won't make an announcement until "later in September."
San Antonio Spurs: The San Antonio Express News is reporting that former player Mario Ellie may replace assistant coach Mike Brown on the Spurs staff after Brown accepted the top assistant position with Rick Carlisle in Indiana. "In my short career, it was the toughest decision I've had to make," Brown said. "I was preparing to settle in," Brown said. "Moving up to the No. 1 assistant is a big move for my career, but it's really tough leaving San Antonio. I've enjoyed the heck out of (Spurs chairman) Peter (Holt), Pop, (general manager) R.C. (Buford), the players and the fans. Everyone was great to me."
Indiana Pacers: Now that it's official, Rick Carlisle had a few things to say about his new team. "I see a roster that has depth and, on paper, an ability to get it done at each position by committee," Carlisle said in the Indianapolis Star. "Except of course for Jermaine (O'Neal), who's a superstar player. I like the challenge of a younger team. I very much covet the opportunity to work with guys in their early 20s and move it from where it is now into the future . . . The goal here is to win a championship. Isiah talked a lot about it. That's why we're here. Those players are going to have to attach themselves to those values if that's where we're going to go. And it's not going to be easy."
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Wednesday, August 13
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - In ancient times, the Zulus referred to the city of Johannesburg as E'goli, or place of gold.
For centuries, all roads in Africa led to this place. The dream of each weary traveler or adventurer was to find his fortune in the sun soaked hills of this unusual city. Wars have been fought to claim it. The hideous doctrine of apartheid was hatched just north of here in Pretoria to keep the diverse races of people who had journeyed here out of its gates. Just outside, the dilapidated, sprawling township of Soweto, the home of Nelson Mandela, still serves as a painful reminder of how hate and greed can divide a nation.
The last of Johannesburg's gold ran out decades ago, but a new gold mine -- one with huge potential impact for both the NBA and the continent of Africa -- remains virtually untapped.
The young players in Africa are athletic, strong and, most importantly, tall. However, for the past few decades the NBA has relatively ignored Africa. Despite the success of such luminaries as Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe Mutombo, only a handful of African players have made the arduous journey to the NBA.
That is about to change.
"We're shining the light of the world on African basketball," NBA great Bob Lanier told a group of 126 young Africans as the NBA Africa 100 camp began on Wednesday here in Johannesburg. "You are the chosen ones. Great things are expected of you."
The camp is the NBA's first large-scale attempt to bring basketball to the continent of Africa. In the past decade, David Stern and others have made trips here to promote the game. Players like Olajuwon and Mutombo have been coming for years in an effort to improve the communities from which they came. But before Wednesday, nothing of this scale had ever been attempted.
Over the past year, organizers have set out to find a way to bring together the top 100 young African basketball players in one place. The camp itself was the brainchild of former Celtics guard Sam Vincent. Vincent is in his second year as head coach of the men's South African National Team. After spending two frustrating years trying to rebuild South Africa's national basketball program, Vincent became convinced that for basketball to really catch fire in Africa, he needed the NBA's help.
The people in Africa lacked vision, Vincent believed. They needed to get the religion only the NBA can produce to prosper.
At times the situation seemed nearly impossible. Many African countries are still hostile to each other. Getting things like visas and travel coordinated for players from 24 countries was daunting to say the least. Identifying and getting the talent to actually come (a few countries like Cameroon didn't send their top players) took months of lobbying.
Still somehow, Vincent and others made it happen.
"This was my dream a year ago," Vincent said. "We lack so many resources, both financially and from an experience standpoint. I knew if I could get the NBA involved, we'd benefit from both."
Sure enough, one year later, campers from every nation in Africa are here, wearing new red and yellow jerseys, drinking Sprite and sporting new Reeboks.
One player from Mali admitted it was his first real pair of basketball shoes.
NBA coaches and scouts are spending hours a day putting African players through drills and coaching them in games.
A kid from Burkino Faso said that this was the first time he'd ever ridden in an airplane or left his home country.
The knowledge these young players are receiving is even more priceless. Mutombo, Diop, Olumide Oyedeji, Ruben Boumtje-Boutmtje, Mamadou N'diaye and the Raptors' Michael Curry are here. They're joined by scouts and coaches from 14 NBA teams. Together, they are spending hours each day putting the kids through drills (like showing them how to block out on defense or do a drop step in the paint on offense) and then coaching them in games in the afternoon.
Off the court, they're also getting the information. The NBA, in connection with Lovelife (the largest AIDS prevention organization in Africa), is holding life skills seminars with the players every morning, addressing such topics as HIV/AIDS prevention, substance abuse, teamwork and leadership. The NBA is also opening up several Read to Achieve centers in the poor townships like Soweto and Ithuteng outside of Johannesburg.
"We expect other things of the chosen ones as well," Lanier explains. "We want them to be great people first and reach back into their communities. There is a bigger mission. A bigger objective."
Scouting Africa
Almost as important as the young players who showed up to play was the large contingent of NBA coaches and scouts who made the long trip to Johannesburg.
For most of them, scouting Europe is considered roughing it. It will be the first trip to Africa for virtually all of them. You can't discover what you cannot see.
"There can be a bit of a herd mentality in the NBA sometimes," Pistons international scouting guru Tony Ronzone said. "Ten years ago, very few scouts were in Europe. Now that there has been an explosion there, people are stampeding there. If you can find one or two really great young players in Africa, they'll come here too."
The door being opened here in Johannesburg isn't just for the kids. It's opening up a whole new world, an unspoiled treasure trove of talent, waiting to be explored.
Up until now, nothing has been easy. With political violence and corruption running rampant, national programs being run on a non-existent budgets and players escaping to the U.S. or Europe whenever opportunity arises, no one has been sure exactly where to go.
There have been early pioneers preaching the specific wonders of Africa for the past few years.
Mavs director of scouting, Amadou Gallo Fall, has been finding players in Senegal for years. Fall was largely behind DeSagna Diop's and Malick Badiane's entrance into the NBA. It comes as no surprise that he was named the Camp Director of the Africa 100 Camp.
Nuggets international scout Masai Ujiri, also at the camp, coaches the Nigerian junior national team in the summer and has a firm handle on the top talent in Africa.
After that, the number of knowledgeable sources are scarce. One 15-year-old Senegal player, Samba Gueye, was certainly the buzz coming into camp. That is, until I realized hours later, that all of the American scouts declaring him the best young player here had never seen him play.
At least they had heard of Gueye. The rest? Scouts and coaches were scrambling just like everyone else to pick Fall's and Ujiri's brain as the camp got under way.
"The players here are very raw and very young," Fall said. "Most of them are just now learning organized basketball. Some people may have gotten their hopes up too high."
True. As scouts quickly found out, Africa's Top 100 is a figure of speech. Most of the top young Africans are playing in small leagues in Europe or are attending school in the U.S. What you have here are the guys who didn't get that far.
Even from there, it was clear that that players from Nigeria and Senegal, in particular, were far more advanced than players from other countries.
"Africa has a rich history of basketball in some countries and it is just developing in others," Anicet Lavodrama, manager of international relations and development for FIBA, said. "Places like Senegal, Egypt, Angola, Nigeria have a history. They also have an infrastructure in place. They can train their coaches, offer facilities and consistent competition. That's why players from some countries tend to be better than others."
It's safe to say, from an early glance at the players here at the camp, that none of them are what you would call "NBA ready." They're more like "high school ready."
But for folks like Mutombo and Fall, that isn't the point. The camp isn't meant to be Africa's version of the Chicago pre-draft camp. It's an attempt to bring two very different cultures together -- NBA basketball and African basketball -- hoping that a marriage between the two will produce beautiful children somewhere down the road.
Higher Learning
Interestingly enough, most of the campers don't have their sights set on the NBA. They do, however, almost unanimously want to go to an American high school or college. If basketball gets them there, so be it.
"This is what is instilled in young kids in most African countries," Lavodrama said. "You want to go get your diploma and become somebody. This is how kids in Africa become somebody. The kids want to play in the NBA, but they want the education first. This is the key."
One Senegalese player, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Fall, is waiting on a visa to the United States so that he can enroll in a high school basketball powerhouse, Oak Hill. Other players spoke wistfully of their dreams of getting a real education. If basketball gets them there, then so be it.
Diop, who made the unprecedented move of going straight to the NBA from high school, said that people back home were disappointed. "An education is very important where I'm from. I can play basketball well, but everyone wants to know what I've learned."
Boumtje-Boumtje agrees. "When I would call home from Georgetown, no one ever asked me how the basketball was going. They all worried about the degree."
So, it's with great irony that no NCAA or high school coaches are here. It's a dead time in the recruiting season. They're not allowed to come.
Still, the kids are praying that somehow the word gets out. Between the scouts, agents (yes, they're here too) and the media taping the event, the real dream is that a college coach somewhere catches a glimpse of a kid and offers him a ticket to the United States.
Even if that doesn't happen (and it won't for most) it doesn't take long to feel a profound sense of gratitude from the players here.
"Our hearts are open wide to the people of the NBA for coming here and teaching us," Moussa Outtara, from Burkina Faso, said. "We will use this opportunity to become better people and better players. We know it may not happen again."
That seems unlikely. Both participants and organizers of the Africa 100 Camp are already talking about making this an annual event. Still, for the next week at least, Johannesburg can rightfully call itself E'goli again.
Coming Friday: Inside the NBA Africa 100 Camp -- breaking down the top players here in Johannesburg.
-----------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Thursday, September 4
Updated: September 4
7:41 AM ET
McDyess
New York Knicks: There is a 100 percent chance that the New York Knicks are going to open up camp in a month or so and, according to a published report, a 90 percent chance that Antonio McDyess' left knee will be healed enough to join the team at that time and start the season on the active roster."They're going to be super cautious this time around," said a person with knowledge of McDyess' rehabilitation in the NY Daily News. "Even if Antonio thinks he's ready to play, they're going to wait until the season starts before he sees action." Officially, the Knicks say they won't make an announcement until "later in September."
San Antonio Spurs: The San Antonio Express News is reporting that former player Mario Ellie may replace assistant coach Mike Brown on the Spurs staff after Brown accepted the top assistant position with Rick Carlisle in Indiana. "In my short career, it was the toughest decision I've had to make," Brown said. "I was preparing to settle in," Brown said. "Moving up to the No. 1 assistant is a big move for my career, but it's really tough leaving San Antonio. I've enjoyed the heck out of (Spurs chairman) Peter (Holt), Pop, (general manager) R.C. (Buford), the players and the fans. Everyone was great to me."
Indiana Pacers: Now that it's official, Rick Carlisle had a few things to say about his new team. "I see a roster that has depth and, on paper, an ability to get it done at each position by committee," Carlisle said in the Indianapolis Star. "Except of course for Jermaine (O'Neal), who's a superstar player. I like the challenge of a younger team. I very much covet the opportunity to work with guys in their early 20s and move it from where it is now into the future . . . The goal here is to win a championship. Isiah talked a lot about it. That's why we're here. Those players are going to have to attach themselves to those values if that's where we're going to go. And it's not going to be easy."
