BAL gathers momentum
They are: Algeria, Groupement Sportif des Pétroliers; Angola, Clube Atlético Petroleos de Luanda; Cameroon, Forces Armées et Police Basketball; Egypt, Zamalek; Madagascar, Gendarmerie Nationale Basketball Club; Mali, Association Sportive de la Police Nationale;
Morocco, Association Sportive de Salé; Mozambique,
Ferroviàrio de Maputo;
Nigeria, Rivers Hoopers Basketball
Club; Rwanda, Patriots Basketball Club;
Senegal, Association Sportives des
Douanes; and Tunisia, Union Sportive
Monastirienne.
The announcement was made by BAL
President Amadou Gallo Fall at the NBA All-Star 2020 Africa Luncheon in Chicago
in the presence of FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis, NBPA Executive
Director Michele Roberts, Retired General Martin E. Dempsey, NBA Commissioner
Adam Silver, FIBA President Hamane Niang, FIBA Africa and BAL Board President
Anibal Manave, FIBA Africa Executive Director Alphonse Bilé, Philadelphia 76ers
Co-Managing Partner David Blitzer, Milwaukee Bucks Co-Owners Wes Edens and Marc
Lasry, Brooklyn Nets Alternate Governor Oliver Weisberg, NBA Deputy
Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum, Toronto Raptors President
Masai Ujiri and members of the NBA family, including Las Vegas Aces center and
three-time WNBA All-Star Liz Cambage (Australia; parent from Nigeria), New
Orleans Pelicans Vice President of Basketball Operations and Team Development
and three-time WNBA Champion Swin Cash, NBA Cares Ambassador Jason Collins,
former NBA players Festus Ezeli (Nigeria), Mamadou N’Diaye (Senegal) and
Olumide Oyedeji (Nigeria), Boston Celtics two-way player Tacko Fall (Senegal),
2005 WNBA Champion Hamchétou Maïga-Ba (Mali), two-time NBA Champion D.J. Mbenga
(Democratic Republic of the Congo), Capital City Go-Go General Manager Pops Mensah-Bonsu
(Ghana), NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of the
Congo), Oklahoma City Thunder guard/forward Abdel Nader (Egypt), Los Angeles
Sparks forward and two-time WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike (parents from
Nigeria) and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Josh Okogie (Nigeria).
“This is a historic moment as we
welcome the 12 teams that will participate in our inaugural season,” Fall said. “These teams have earned the opportunity to
represent their respective countries and will establish BAL as a world-class
product that entertains fans of all ages when the season tips off March 13.”
Champions from national leagues
in six countries – Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia – were
guaranteed representation in the inaugural BAL season. The remaining six teams, which come from
Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda, secured their
participation through BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Africa
across the continent in late 2019.
NIKE and Jordan Brand, the BAL’s
exclusive on-court outfitter, today unveiled the official BAL uniforms
(http://bit.ly/39Es4kQ). NIKE and Jordan
Brand will outfit the league’s 12 teams with official game uniforms, warmup
apparel, socks and practice gear, with six teams featured in NIKE and the other
six teams in Jordan Brand. The
collaboration with NIKE and Jordan Brand marks the BAL’s first partnership.
The BAL has also launched the
league’s official website and social media accounts. Fans can now follow the BAL @theBAL on
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and register their interest in receiving more
information at www.theBAL.com.
The inaugural BAL regular season
will take place in Cairo (Egypt), Dakar (Senegal), Lagos (Nigeria), Luanda
(Angola), Monastir (Tunisia) and Salé (Morocco). Kigali (Rwanda) will host the first-ever BAL
Playoffs and Finals.
The BAL will debut with 12 club
teams from across Africa divided into two conferences, with each conference
playing in three cities. Each team will
play five games in the regular season, facing every team in its conference
once. The top four teams in each
conference will qualify for the single-elimination playoffs in Kigali, Rwanda.
Additional details about the BAL
will be announced in the coming weeks.
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