Basketball
BASKETBALL LEGEND, CHARLES BARKLEY TO SELL 1996 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL
BY DUNCAN MACKAY.
Charles Barkley, one of the most recognisable names in basketball, has announced he plans to sell the Olympic gold medal he won at Atlanta 1996 as part of a major sale of memorabilia from his career to help pay for new houses for the disadvantaged in the town he grew up in.
But the American revealed he will not be selling the gold medal he won at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona as part of the revered United States “Dream Team” because his daughter asked him not to.
“Because of how sentimental it is for the world,” Barkley, who is now 57 and a television analyst, said during a radio interview in Alabama.
“But all of that other stuff, man, is just an eyesore.
“I
don’t think I have to walk around with my gold medal or my MVP (most valuable
player) trophy for people to know I’m Charles Barkley, so I’m going to sell all
that crap.
“That just clutters my house.
“I used to keep it at my grandmother’s house, but they all passed away, and I don’t want that stuff crapping up my house.”
Barkley claimed that he has been told by one expert that the MVP trophy he won during the 1993 National Basketball Association season when, playing for the Phoenix Suns, he averaged 25.6 points on .520 shooting, 12.2 rebounds and a career high 5.1 assists per game as they reached finals, could fetch between $300,000 (£230,000/€265,000) and $400,000 (£310,000/€350,000).
He did not reveal how much he had been advised the Olympic gold medal, won by the US when they beat the FR Yugoslavia 95-69 in the final, could fetch.
In 1992, Barkley led the “Dream Team” in scoring 18 points per game on 71 percent shooting, despite starting just half of the eight games.
A US flag signed by the original Dream Team at Barcelona 1992 is also among the items that Barkley plans to auction.
Barkley promised during one interview that all the money he raised from the sale of the items would be used to build new houses in Leeds in Alabama.
Barkley claimed he was the first black baby born in a segregated town hospital in Leeds and was among the first black students at his elementary school.
“We probably got 30 eyesores, as I call them, where houses used to be when I was growing up,” he said during an interview.
“Either a rotted-out house or there’s just weeds that have overgrown.
“So, what I’m trying to do – I want to work with the city of Leeds, I want them to give me the spaces, number one.
“I want them to give me the houses, and I’m going to use my own money selling my memorabilia.
“I want to do something really nice for Leeds.
“And if I could build 10 to 20 affordable houses – I want to do green housing too
[and]
if I could sell all that stuff, it would just be a really cool thing for me.”
Earlier this month, an Olympic gold medal won by the US basketball captain Bill Wheatley at Berlin in 1936 was put up for auction.
The medal has been placed with Heritage Auctions’ Winter Platinum Night Sports Auction and it is estimated it could raise as much as $60,000 (£46,000/€55,000).
In 2015, the gold medal awarded to Wheatley’s team-mate Carl Shy was sold at auction for $66,000 (£51,000/€61,000).
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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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