Miami Heat Center Hassan Whiteside has been named Team World Captain for this year’s NBA Africa Game which takes place this weekend.
The exhibition game tips off on Saturday August in Pretoria, South Africa and is the third edition following the 2015 and 2017 games.
This will be Whiteside’s maiden appearance in the friendly game with proceeds set to fund projects in the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
The Heat Star was handed the honor following DeMar DeRozan’s withdrawal from the game in the aftermath of his shock trade from Toronto Raptors to San Antonio Spurs.
DeRozan was named Captain in the original roster before the announcement of his withdrawal; he has cited the need to familiarize with his new surroundings as the reason for his absence.
Whiteside is expected to lead a group including NBA veterans Rudy Gay, 2015 NBA Champion Harrisons Barnes and highlight dunk machine Dennis Smith Jnr.
Joel Embiid is Captain of Team Africa-a group of NBA players of African heritage-and includes Orlando Magic Point Guard Evan Fournier whose is of Algerian descent.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
