{"id":201529,"date":"2021-09-09T18:03:12","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T16:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/how-obamas-backing-for-nba-africa-venture-could-boost-basketball-on-the-continent\/"},"modified":"2021-09-09T18:03:12","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T16:03:12","slug":"how-obamas-backing-for-nba-africa-venture-could-boost-basketball-on-the-continent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/how-obamas-backing-for-nba-africa-venture-could-boost-basketball-on-the-continent\/","title":{"rendered":"How Obama’s backing for NBA Africa venture could boost basketball on the continent"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Former US president Barack Obama\u2019s decision to invest<\/a> in the National Basketball Association\u2019s Africa venture reflects a lot about his past \u2013 his basketball playing youth<\/a> and his African roots<\/a>. It also signals that his future ambitions stretch beyond US borders.<\/p>\n

NBA Africa was launched in 2021<\/a> as a collaboration between the National Basketball Association (NBA)<\/a> and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) <\/a>. The inaugural competition consisted of 12 teams from 12 different countries. The Egyptian team, Zamalek, won<\/a> the first championship over a Tunisian squad. <\/p>\n

The competition includes leading teams from national leagues who qualify for the tournament, much like international club competitions such as the UEFA Champion\u2019s League<\/a>. The Basketball Africa League competition is fully operated by the NBA according to former NBA player and NBA vice president for Africa, Amadou Gallo Fall.<\/p>\n

Obama decided to invest, marrying his love of basketball with his desire to contribute to African social and economic development. Through The Obama Foundation<\/a>, he is helping train African leaders of the future as well as to promote the continent globally.<\/p>\n

Obama, basketball and diplomacy<\/h2>\n

Obama grew<\/a> up playing basketball, winning a high school state championship in Hawaii and later playing at Occidental College in California. He played in the Senate gym during his time there and was known to have celebrities like Magic Johnson join in on his White House<\/a> pick-up games. <\/p>\n

During a campaign event for President Joe Biden last November, cameras caught Obama casually sink a three-pointer<\/a> while passing through a school gym. His basketball skills earned him some street credentials as a politician, helping the brainy Ivy-leaguer seem more grounded. <\/p>\n

Sports has historically been a useful tool for international diplomacy, a point Obama stressed<\/a> in the announcement of his deal with the NBA. <\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t the first president to go this route. Former US president Richard Nixon used table tennis to thaw relations with communist China in the 1970s. His campaign was labelled Ping Pong diplomacy<\/a>. Decades later, the US State Department officially established the sports diplomacy programme<\/a> in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The programme \u2013 which is still going strong today \u2013 is aimed at reaching out to young people in middle eastern countries. Since then, the programmes have expanded globally with a wide range of initiatives.<\/p>\n

While Obama\u2019s role in NBA Africa is not directly linked to US diplomatic efforts, his presence serves as a type of informal diplomacy<\/a> in a region where the US has struggled to sustain a constant positive diplomatic role.<\/p>\n

An international NBA<\/h2>\n

For several decades the National Basketball Association has been focused on expanding into the international market as a source of talent, revenue and fans. There was a long campaign<\/a> to bring a Chinese star to the League which culminated in Yao Ming joining<\/a> the Houston Rockets in 2002. <\/p>\n

The NBA and its players have had a longer relationship with Africa. In 1959, the US State Department sponsored Boston Celtics star Bill Russell\u2019s tour of West Africa. As a result of his time in Africa, Russell bought a rubber plantation in Liberia. The media praised Russell\u2019s venture as proof of black capitalist success and his visit raised the profile of basketball in the region. <\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s Hakeem Olajawan<\/a> became the first African player in the NBA in 1984, paving the way for dozens of of future NBA stars from Africa, including Manute Bol<\/a>, Dikembe Motumbo<\/a> and dozens of current players.<\/a> <\/p>\n

The NBA began its Basketball Without Borders<\/a> programme in 2001, beginning in Europe at the same time they were working to bring Yao Ming to the US. From 2003 it has been engaged in expanding its presence in Africa drawing on the popularity of Olajawan and others who had begun to succeed in the NBA. Since retirement Olajawan has been NBA ambassador in Africa. He also made a special appearance for Team Africa at the 2015 NBA Africa exhibition game in South Africa.<\/p>\n

In 2004 the NBA expanded its annual Basketball Without Borders programme to Johannesburg, South Africa, not in the region where the NBA\u2019s African players had originated, but in the most lucrative market. The NBA opened its Africa office<\/a> in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2010 and continued to expand efforts across the continent culminating in the launch of the international tournament in 2020.<\/p>\n

Presidential connection<\/h2>\n

Recently, US presidents and their families have become increasingly connected to professional sports. The difference in Obama\u2019s case is the international scope of his engagement, showing that he sees himself playing a role outside the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, the former president has increased his public presence. He joined the Joe Biden campaign<\/a> leading up to the November election, released his latest book, A Promised Land<\/a>, and launched a podcast with singer Bruce Springsteen<\/a>. After four years of relative silence during the Trump presidency, Obama seems to be re-emerging from the shadows. <\/p>\n

Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, were voted the Most Admired Man and Most Admired Woman in the world<\/a> in a 2020 survey across 42 countries. His popularity will surely boost the prospects for NBA Africa and expand his own brand as a global entrepreneur and philanthropist. <\/p>\n

While the expansion of the NBA\u2019s reach may help basketball\u2019s growth in Africa, there is no doubt that the combination of the world\u2019s premier basketball league with the most popular African-descended leader will do much to promote the league\u2019s brand as well as help shape future growth of basketball on the African continent.<\/p>\n

Source: The Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former US president Barack Obama\u2019s decision to invest in the National Basketball Association\u2019s Africa venture reflects a lot about his past \u2013 his basketball playing youth and his African roots. It also signals that his future ambitions stretch beyond US borders. NBA Africa was launched in 2021 as a collaboration between the National Basketball Association […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":201530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-201529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa-news-2","8":"tag-mypr","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/how-obamas-backing-for-nba-africa-venture-could-boost-basketball-on-the-continent.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}