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Barack Obama’s got game – just ask Steph Curry – and he’s taking his love for basketball to Africa.
Our forever president is working with the NBA and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to develop a new league in Africa in hopes of expanding the game across the continent, CBS News reports.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the announcement Saturday (Feb. 16), saying the Basketball Africa League will be a 12-franchise league that will launch in January 2020.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver just announced the league and FIBA are teaming up to start the Basketball Africa League, a 12-franchise league set to begin play in January 2020. Existing African club teams will get a chance to qualify for the league.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) February 16, 2019
After the NBA posted a “powerful” video about the ways sports make a difference, Obama posted a follow up tweet acknowledging his love of the game.
“I’ve always loved basketball because it’s about building a team that’s equal to more than the sum of its parts. Glad to see this expansion into Africa…”
I’ve always loved basketball because it’s about building a team that’s equal to more than the sum of its parts. Glad to see this expansion into Africa because for a rising continent, this can be about a lot more than what happens on the court. https://t.co/lghcLaUN9a
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 16, 2019
In the video, Obama says, “I hope you know through sport that if you put in effort you will be rewarded, I hope you learn through sport what it means to play as a team and that even if you are the best player your job is not just to show off but your job is to make your teammates better.”
Adam Silver echoed 44’s sentiments with a statement of his own.
“The Basketball Africa League is an important next step in our continued development of the game of basketball in Africa. Combined with our other programs on the continent, we are committed to using basketball as an economic engine to create new opportunities in sports, media and technology across Africa.”
Game on.
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