You read correctly, it was announced to the public on Saturday that the NBA is collaborating with The International Basketball Federation (FIBA), and the product of this collaboration will be The Basketball Africa League.

The 12-team league is set to start in January 2020, and our little birdies tell us that former American President Obama is expected to be involved with this new league’s operations as he’s a huge basketball fan.

Tournaments will be held later this year to determine which of the existing clubs qualify to take part in the league. Countries such as Angola, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, and of course Egypt, will take part in the qualification tournaments. A maximum of two teams from each country will be allowed to participate in the league.

Obama wasn’t the only one who expressed interest in being involved with this new league; Pepsi, and Nike’s Jordan Brand were also among the interested parties who reached out to the NBA and said they wanted to be part of the Africa League.

What’s interesting is that this will be the first time the NBA get involved with a league outside the continent of North America.
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By Dina Khafagy