Elite-level basketball talent has significantly grown across the globe. NBA talent can be found in many parts of the world. Anywhere in the world that you go, people are playing the game of basketball at a high level. Europe has produced many talented players that play in the NBA. It appears that the next hidden gem is in Africa. At this point, the talent in Africa may not even be a secret anymore. Major talent has been produced in the continent. The NBA understands how much-untapped potential exists in the continent and has done an adequate job of investing resources into the continent to cultivate talent.
The Basketball African League is an NBA affiliate. It was started by the NBA back in 2020. The BAL is the first of its kind. Its inaugural season was delayed due to the pandemic. The league consists of teams from Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and several other African Nations. This has been a long time coming as the NBA has held many Basketball without borders events in Africa and has also put on several exhibition games in Johannesburg over the past few years.
Prominent agent, Bill Duffy, notes “that Africa is the next frontier of international basketball talent. Consumers in the continent are expected to spend 2 trillion dollars in 2035”. With FIBA, the NBA will dedicate financial support and resources toward the development of the league and Africa in general. For a while now, Africa has been one of the hotbeds concerning human capital and resources. The NBA understands that and knows that they have the resources to build a foundation that will set up the younger generation of Africa to thrive.
Time and time again, the NBA has done well at capitalizing on the global marketplace. The popularity of the game in China, India, and many countries around the globe are an example.. Marc Spears from ESPN notes,“NBA has taken advantage by offering a direct to consumer offering of NBA games to its fans in Africa for the 2019-2020 season” They understand that if they get to these consumers early, they will be able to reap the benefits later on. Like the MLB, with Japan, it takes time and effort to establish a global partnership. The NBA has done that and is on its way to solidifying itself in Africa.
Talent is plentiful in Africa. With the investment made over the last few years, there will be much more talent that comes out of the continent. There is now an infrastructure and resources dedicated to allowing for talent to be cultivated in the continent. It will take a few years to reap the benefits, but there is no doubt that at some point there will be a lot more players from Africa playing in the NBA. Players like Joel Embid, Pascal Siakam, Precious Achiuwa, and Serge Ibaka are players from the continent who have made an impact. There will be others that come from Africa in the next few years.