The NBA Is Set To Launch An African Basketball League In 2020

In recent times, we have seen African basketball teams make tremendous progress in international tournaments. While this is giving the sport a grander status in Africa, it seems we have more to look forward to, as the NBA has announced plans to launch a new basketball league on the continent.

(Photo: NBA Africa via Twitter)

According to the NBA website, the professional league will be called the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and it’ll feature 12 teams from Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.

Currently, Africa has club competitions that are overseen by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Thankfully, FIBA will partner with NBA in running the league when it kicks off in January 2020, making it NBA’s first-ever collaboration to operate a league outside of North America.

What’s more, there are reports that former US president, Barack Obama will be part of the league in some capacity. Add this news to the annual NBA Africa exhibition game, and there’s no doubt basketball in Africa is on an upward trajectory.