Basketball
CNN INTERNATIONAL SPEAKS TO NIGERIAN-BORN MASAI UJIRI, PRESIDENT OF THE TORONTO RAPTORS
CNN’s Marketplace Africa speaks to the NBA’s first African-born vice president, Masai Ujiri about his approach to the business and the future of basketball in Africa.
Ujiri, who is originally from Nigeria, tells presenter Eleni Giokos about how his passion for basketball first started: “We were on our way to the soccer field and saw this guy shooting
[basketballs]
and the way he shot the ball and it was going right in and those basketball courts it was not a net, it was a chain. So, there were chains and it was just going Chas Chas and it was unbelievable the sound and all we wanted to do was shoot the ball and hear that Chas Chas.”
In Nigeria, Ujiri only picked up a basketball at 13 but would go on to play professionally until discovering the joys of coaching.
He explains: “I was playing in lower leagues in Europe and making a couple of thousand of dollars a month, where is this taking me? I don’t want this. Luckily for me, I fell into the coaching and the junior National team… the low gig of scouting and luckily, I got a break in the NBA.”
As the President of the Toronto Raptors, Ujiri helps scout players to improve his team. On skills he looks for, Ujiri says: “Well it started with African players. I started scouting African players… We are looking at those long arms, we are looking at speed, we are looking at skill. I started trying to learn what the real NBA skill is and what you’re trying to find. And that’s a difficult thing too, trying to … we all think oh my God I just saw this guy, he’s an NBA player, he’s an NBA player.”
In 2003, the Nigerian native started the Giants of Africa, a non-profit that helps young children learn more about basketball and leadership. Ujiri explains to Eleni Giokos why he believes the initiative is necessary: “We lack the facilities in Africa. And so, it doesn’t give the kids a chance. I say that there is talent in Africa walking everywhere, it’s a gold mine… They need to see people like us, so they believe in themselves… At the end of the day, in my heart, you’re a scout. And one day you want to say, I found this Mutombo, or Pascal Siakam. You want that great player, you want to find somebody that’s just going to come and kill it.”
Originally formed in Nigeria, Giants of Africa now runs camps all over Africa. Masai Ujiri tells the programme why he is dedicated to the charity: “I feel that if I don’t help more youth, and more Africans to grow, more people to follow me. We need more General Managers. I need more youth, I need more people to see that it can be done. Whether it’s coaching. Whether it’s scouting. Whether it’s playing, whatever it is, people can see that yes it can be done by an African. It’s something that I really take pride in.”
Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
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Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
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Basketball
FIBA names Nigeria’s Agada among those who starred the most on the last day of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers
The 16 teams that will be competing at this year’s FIBA AfroBasket from 12-24 August have been confirmed, with some teams securing their places on the final day of qualifying.
A quintet of individuals put in stellar performances to send their teams to this year’s African championship in style.
Teams have 169 days to prepare for the 2025 edition of the AfroBasket set to be hosted by former champions Angola, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th title.
FIBA- Africa looked at the matches and the players and featured nine players who were the stars of the final day on Sunday.
Here is FIBA’s analysis: The return of the Tokyo Olympian has been a blessing for Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Nigeria.
For the second game in a row, Agada was a thorn in their side’s side, scoring 23 points in a convincing 77-62 win over 2021 AfroBasket semifinalists Cape Verde.
The 30-year-old played just over 30 minutes and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double while adding six assists and five steals for an efficiency rating of 29.
Nigeria entered the competition after an 0-3 start, but his disruptive presence on the floor helped them to a 3-0 run to qualify, averaging 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The other players highlighted are: Ousmane Drame of Guinea, Karim Maneof Senegal, Childe Dundao of Angola, Siriman Kanoute of Mali, as well as Ntore Habimana (Rwanda) Aliou Fadiala Diarra (Mali) Allan Dokossi (Central African Republic)and Nisre Zouzoua (Cote d’Ivoire)
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