The Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) president, Paul Otula described the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Kenya and the National Basketball Association (NBA) last week as a move in the right direction for direction for the country.
He said the move was the beginning of good things to come as far as the country's basketball is concerned and by extension, a bold move to facilitate the development of basketball infrastructure and talent in the country.
Otula highlighted that the MOU Kenya had signed with the NBA was the first of its kind in the region and a commitment towards growing the game.
“We have received great news that the government has signed a contract with NBA. It is going to be big for Kenya, big for the region and bigger for Zone Five,” he highlighted.
The MOU was signed by Sports CS Ababu Namwamba and NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams in New York and was witnessed by President William Ruto, Toronto Raptors Vice Chairman and President Masai Ujiri, Basketball Africa League President Amadou Fall, and former NBA All-Star Luol Deng.
Otula also noted that this was the first time that NBA was setting camp in an Anglophone country after having done so much for the Francophone countries in the continent.
“The NBA has done much for Francophone countries and it's first time setting camp in an Anglophone country. This means a lot to us and we would love to that the President and the Ministry of Sports,” he said.
“As KBF, we want to assure the government that we will do all we can to ensure the country benefits from this noble venture.”
The deal will see the NBA help Kenya develop talent in schools and community-based groups under the country's Talanta Hela Initiative.
The Sports Ministry with the help of the NBA will also develop basketball courts in schools, communities and neighbourhoods as well as arenas to host competitions.
In addition to that, the NBA will also open an office in Nairobi in November.
The MOU focuses on three key areas including infrastructure development, where the NBA will help Kenya develop an elite-level arena with the capacity to host top matches.
NBA will also work with the country to develop a community-based basketball program under the Talanta Hela initiative.
As far as regional coordination is concerned, the NBA will open an office in Nairobi to ease operations in the region.
NBA settled for Kenya due to the fact that the country was rated among the fastest basketball-growing countries by the World Congress for basketball.
The Congress also recognized deaf basketball, and wheelchair basketball and commended the Kenya women’s basketball team.
The NBA’s history of supporting basketball development in Africa began in 2019 when it came together with FIBA to create the Basketball Africa League (BAL), a professional league featuring 12 teams from across the continent.
