NBA In Africa

Quick Facts

In August 1993, Dikembe Mutombo visited Kenya, Zambia and South Africa with an assortment of officials and coaches including Alex English and Bob McAdoo.

In August of 1994, NBA Commissioner David Stern accompanied Mutombo and NBA All-Stars Alonzo Mourning and Patrick Ewing, who were part of an NBA contingent of players, officials, coaches, and legends that traveled to South Africa for basketball youth clinics. One of the highlights of the group’s tour of South Africa was a meeting with Nelson Mandela, former President of the African National Congress and former President of South Africa, who spent 27 years in prison.

In September of 1997, Mutombo and Mwadi Mabika of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks were the headliners on a special tour to South Africa where the NBA conducted clinics in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

In September 2003, a contingent of NBA players from Africa, including Mutombo traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa for the first Basketball without Borders camp (Africa 100 Camp), the first of its kind in Africa to incorporate basketball instruction and educational programs addressing important social issues for the top 100 young players from more than 19 African countries.

In September 2004 and 2005, Basketball without Borders Africa returned to Johannesburg, South Africa. The NBA has traveled to South Africa six times since 1993 to stage basketball events.

As part of Basketball without Borders Africa, the NBA opened two Reading & Learning Centers in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2003 and 2005. Using contributions from 2003, the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation Dormitories and a new basketball court were unveiled at Ithuteng Trust in 2004.

In September 2005, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) along with U.S. embassies in Algeria, Nigeria and Senegal partnered with NBA and its corporate partner Reebok to sponsor basketball clinics for young boys and girls in Africa. Twelve thousand youth in Nigeria, Senegal and Algeria also received a pair of new basketball shoes through this public-private partnership. The clinics featured ECA Sports Envoys, NBA player Jim Jackson from the Phoenix Suns and Cynthia Cooper, former Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) player for the Houston Comets. In addition to support the Senegalese Basketball Federation, the Sports Envoys was joined by an NBA delegation that includes Senegalese NBA player Mamadou N’diaye, and coaches from the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Bobcats, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks.

In November 2005, former NBA player Sam Perkins and WNBA players Andrea Stinson and Shameka Christon conducted basketball clinics in Algeria, as sports envoys for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). These clinics, for boys and girls ages 7-17, included technique drills and team building activities, as well as providing an opportunity for the youth to engage in dialogue with the American players.

In January 2006, former NBA player Sam Perkins traveled to Botswana for a two-day coaching clinic for Sprite Botswana.