On May 16, the inaugural edition of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) commences and is due to end on May 30 with all games to be played at the Kigali Arena, Rwanda.
Exactly a month to the competition’s opening game, a handful of activities have taken place to mark this special countdown. BAL is a partnership between the NBA and FIBA Africa and 12 teams have qualified to compete in the tournament with the teams representing 12 countries on the African continent.
The tournament was originally scheduled to commence in March 2020 but the corona virus pandemic forced organized organizers to postpone it.
Ahead of the tournament, Rwanda’s Patriots Club has announced it will commence training next week with a specific date yet to be announced.
Nigeria’s Rivers Hoopers has conducted COVID 19 tests to all members of the team; the tournament is to be played without fans due to health reasons.
Hoopers Club has also signed Americans Chris Daniels and Taren Sullivan and veteran Nigerian Guard Ben Uzoh. Each team is allowed to sign two foreign players to its roster and two foreign based players with African roots and at least seven home based players.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
