The story of a new champion arrives in the NBA, with the favorite Cameroonian for the best player

The story of a new champion arrives in the NBA, with the favorite Cameroonian for the best player

Reuters

NOS Sports

This slogan gives every basketball player goosebumps. The election of the “Most Valuable Player” in the competition is considered a crown in the NBA season for NBA players. An address that will remain associated with your name forever.

Especially in the US – where Americans celebrate a good hero’s story – the Player of the Year election is considered sacred, although the coveted award does not go to a US player this season for the fourth year in a row. The Greek, Serbian and Cameroonian player are competing.

Nikola ‘The Joker’ Joki of Serbia has already won in 2021, Giannis ‘The Greek Freak’ Antetokounmpo in 2020 and 2019. According to experts, this is his 127k, 2.13m tall. Center From the Philadelphia 76ers Best Player: Joel Embiid of Cameroon.

How can a tall, skinny man from Yaounde find himself among the greats of the best player in the world? As a teenager, Embiid, the son of a colonel, dreamed of a career as a professional volleyball player – until his uncle whispered to him at the age of fifteen: he played basketball.

After a year of college basketball, 76 players chose Embiid as third choice in 2014 Draftwhich is the group from which NBA teams hunt for new talent each year.

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Embiid keeps a close eye on fellow Raptors Siakam

After eight years of ups and downs from injury, homesickness, an NBA-level habit, a love-hate relationship with Philly fans and criticism from living legends Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, he was awarded the ‘World Player of the Year’ award.

“My life is like a movie,” the Cameroonian once referred to his career. The shy is by no means the gentle giant with a tenor voice. He regularly flirts with singer Rihanna and reality star Kim Kardashian via social media. He also passionately cheers for Real Madrid and Max Verstappen.

This year, Embiid has taken the deeply soaked 76er in recent years on his back. The Center He averaged 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in the regular season. In the past forty years, no player in his position has done so.

Product of NBA Africa

Sounds like a stroke of luck from a tall boy with a unique talent, who was discovered in his own country with a bit of luck? A unique talent, that’s for sure. But luck? Feel free to describe Embiid as the first hugely successful product of the investment the NBA has made in African Basketball two decades ago.

Since 2001, the National Basketball Association has assisted extensively in the organization of international training camps under the name “Basketball Without Borders”. This is how the Mbah A Mote camp arose in Cameroon, where Embiid was discovered.

Instagram Joel Embiid / joelimbed

Embiid assists on behalf of the NBA in South Africa

The presence of the NBA on the African continent is not to be missed. There is a head office in South Africa, in many countries it helps organize training camps and in Senegal, the association runs an academy where the continent’s greatest talent receives basketball training.

basketball diplomacy

The NBA’s crossing of borders is nothing new. “As early as the 1980s, the National Basketball Association took action to make its product international,” said historian Lindsey Sarah Krasnov, who represents the department. International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London Research Relay “basketball diplomacy” on the African continent.

For this investigation, Krasnov spoke in the spring of 2020 with FIBA ​​Africa president Alphonse Bailey, who said there were great skepticism when the NBA had just started the projects.

“We assumed that the NBA was only looking for exceptional African talent for promotion.” Pele told Krasnov that it had been reluctantly looking at how NBA Africa might operate. “But this misunderstanding is a thing of the past. The results are clear,” Pele pointed out to Embiid and other African stars.

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NBA President Adam Silver

Doubts about the intentions of the NBA were further dispelled in 2021 when NBA President Adam Silver, in close collaboration with and based on the World Basketball Federation FIBA, announced a true continental competition under the banner of NBA Africa. The Basketball Africa League (BAL), made up of twelve teams from different countries, played its first full season that year.

“BAL is an important step in our continued development of basketball in Africa,” Silver said at the time, as well as serving as an economic engine to create opportunities in sports, media and technology.

Among the BAL ambassadors were former US President Barack Obama and former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo from Congo.

According to Krasnov, the NBA’s investment in Africa and BAL also has a geopolitical twist. Because the NBA is expanding its influence in other parts of the world.

Krasnov said the NBA’s full commitment to Africa could be seen as a “calculated decision, assuming similar opportunities in China may no longer be available.”

The question remains to what extent NBA and FIBA ​​practices abroad affect ordinary Africans. Because what about the boy who isn’t the Next Embiid after all? In addition to raising the profile of basketball in Africa, Krasnov says basketball helps in another important aspect: education.

“The NBA Academy and SEED Project (a training institute founded by BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall, editor) ensure that an undergraduate degree pathway is also offered,” Krasnov says. “In recognition of the fact that the professional basketball career is not for the majority.”

109 foreigners in the NBA

Among the huge cash flows generated by the global activities of the NBA and FIBA ​​— Silver estimated NBA Africa business valued at $1 billion in 2021 alone — an American basketball fan is now seeing more than ever at home.

A total of 109 foreigners (from 450 to 500 contract players) from 39 countries play in the NBA. For the eighth consecutive season, there are over a hundred. On this season’s opening day, 35 players entered “Basketball Without Borders” into their NBA career. register.

Most foreigners (10) play for the Toronto Raptors, including Pascal Siakam, who came to the US via the same camp as his compatriot Embiid.

France Press agency

1994: Hakim Aliwan (left) in the NBA Finals against New York Knicks Patrick Ewing (right).

Embiid is not the first – and perhaps not the last – an African player to dribble in the crowded Madison Square Garden. In 1984, Hakim “Dream” Aliwan of Nigeria made his debut as the first African player in the NBA.

Embiid captures “The Steps of the Dance” in “The Dream” through a DVD disc marked in gray. In 1994, Olajuwon was elected Player of the Year. If Embiid takes the award this year, the award will also be for the whole of Africa.

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