BAL Players Compete in the FIBA World Cup.
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) has emerged as a crucial platform for African players to showcase their talent and has played a significant role on the international sporting scene, this has enabled 17 players with BAL experience to compete in the International Basketball Association's World Basketball Championship (FIBA) on 2023.
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This merger between the BAL and FIBA leagues demonstrates the growing influence of African basketball and the impact of competition on the formation of elite players. This collaboration is shaping the sporting landscape, highlighting the evolution of players, leading nations and the connection between different competitions.
BAL Players at World Level
Eleven of the 17 players with Basketball Africa League experience present in national team squads actively participated in the 2023 season. Additionally, four of the top five African countries at the 2023 FIBA World Championship took part in the first three BAL seasons, along with their national champions.
The synergy between BAL and the global panorama is even more evident when we observe that six of the 32 teams participating in the tournament have at least one player who has accumulated experience in the league.
17 players from six countries who played crucial roles in the first three seasons of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) have secured a spot on the national teams to participate in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup which is taking place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
During the event, which began on the 25th of August and ends on the 10th of September, six of the 32 participating teams – including the teams from Angola, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Cape Verde and South Sudan – will benefit from the presence of players who shone in the BAL. This interconnectedness becomes even more remarkable when we realize that eleven of the 17 BAL players featured in national team squads competed in the league's exciting 2023 season that ended in May.
In addition, four of the five African countries that stood out at the 2023 FIBA World Championship – Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt and South Sudan – enriched their trajectory by participating in the first three seasons of BAL, accompanied by their national champions.
The Results So Far…
The 2023 Men's Basketball World Cup features 32 teams, the largest number of participants in history, divided into eight groups of four. In the first phase, the teams face each other and the two best in each group advance to the second phase, adding the results obtained in the first.
At this stage, new groups will be created. The classified teams play two more games, facing only the teams of the other group, and take with them the results of the first phase. The top two teams advance to the quarterfinals.
The Groups
Group A: Angola, Dominican Republic, Philippines and Italy
Group B: South Sudan, Serbia, People's Republic of China and Puerto Rico
Group C: United States, Jordan, Greece and New Zealand
Group D: Egypt, Mexico, Montenegro and Lithuania
Group E: Germany, Finland, Australia and Japan
Group F: Slovenia, Cape Verde, Georgia and Venezuela
Group G: Brazil, Islamic Republic of Iran, Spain and Ivory Coast
Group H: Canada, Latvia, France and Lebanon
Africa Group Results
Group A:
August 25th – Angola 67 x 81 Italy
August 27th – Philippines 70 x 80 Angola
Group B:
August 26 – South Sudan 96 v 101 Puerto Rico
August 28 – People's Republic of China 69 x 89 Southern Sudan
Group D:
August 25th – Egypt 67 x 93 Lithuania
August, 27 - Montenegro 89 x 74 Egypt
Group F:
August 26th – Cape Verde 60 x 85 Georgia
August 28 – Venezuela 75 x 81 Cape Verde
Group G:
August, 26 - Spain 94x64 Ivory Coast
August, 28 - Ivory Coast 71 x 69 Islamic Republic of Iran
Innovative Platform
New this year, the NBA app and NBA.com website will include FIBA's digital platform, "Courtside 1891", allowing fans from 20 countries and territories, including Angola, Cape Verde and Côte d'Ivoire, to purchase the pass for the FIBA World Championship and watch the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Championship.
The Courtside 1891 FIBA World Cup Pass gives fans access to live and on-demand games, as well as extended highlights and highlights.
The Courtside 1891 FIBA World Championship Pass is available for purchase HERE and the full schedule of games is available HERE. For complete information about the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup broadcast click HERE.
BAL statistics
Other Basketball Africa League, NBA Academy Africa and Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa stats and stories for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup include:
- BAL 2023 Most Valuable Player (MVP) Anunwa “Nuni” Omot led Al Ahly (Egypt) to the BAL 2023 Championship after helping his home country South Sudan qualify for their first appearance of the country in the FIBA Basketball World Championship. During the 2023 BAL season, Omot averaged per game of 18,9 points, 3,5 rebounds and 2,1 assists. He led South Sudan in terms of scoring during the qualifiers, averaging 15,1 points per game.
- South Sudan's Khaman Maluach, a 2,21-foot (16m) center forward for NBA Academy Africa, is only the third 2022-year-old to make the FIBA World Cup senior squad's roster. Maluach became the youngest player to participate in the BAL when he played for Cobra Sport in 2023 under the BAL Elevate Program before returning to the league in XNUMX and helping AS Douanes (Senegal) reach the BAL finals.
- Maluach is the first NBA Academy student-athlete to compete in the FIBA Basketball World Championship.
- Souleyaman Diabate, from Côte d'Ivoire, who is making his third World Cup appearance, is one of two BAL champions. Diabate won the inaugural 2021 BAL Finals with Zamalek (Egypt) and the 2022 BAL Finals with US Monastir (Tunisia).
- The Angolans Childe Dundão, Gerson Domingos and Gerson Gonçalves participated in the three seasons of BAL as members of the Angolan national champion Petro de Luanda. Dundão was nominated for BAL's best defenders of 2023 for the second consecutive year. In 2016, Dundão helped Angola win the FIBA African Under-18 Championship and, during the qualifiers, Commanded Angola with maximums of 12,1 points and 3,6 assists per game, registering the best record of the tournament with 3,3 ball steals per game. Domingos, who made his World Cup debut in 2019, is a former BWB Africa player and won the 18 FIBA Africa Under-2014 Championship MVP title.
- Egyptian Ehab Amin, one of the most successful players in Egyptian basketball history, helped Al Ahly win the 2023 BAL Finals with per-game averages of 12,7 points and 3,9 assists. Amin averaged 14,5 points per game during the playoffs. Previously, he guided Egypt to victories at the FIBA Africa Under-16 and Under-18 Championships in 2011 and 2012, respectively, and was named MVP of both tournaments.
- Egyptian Anas Osama Mahmoud won the BAL 2021 Finals with Zamalek and was also named BAL Dikembe Mutombo 2021 Best Defender of the Year. Mahmoud averaged 9,9 points and 6,6 rebounds per game during the qualifiers.
- Cape Verdeans Joel Almeida and Anderson Correia, who both played in the 2022 BAL season, led Cape Verde to its first participation in the World Cup. Almeida reached the semi-finals of the 2022 BAL season with Forces Armées et Police Basketball (Cameroon), averaging 12,6 points per game. Correia reached the final with Petro de Luanda.
- Gerson Domingos from Angola, Omar Tarek from Egypt and Khaman Maluach from South Sudan are former African Basketball Without Borders (BWB) players competing in the World Cup. Domingos was the MVP in 2013. Maluach was named the Kim Bohuny BWB Africa 2023 Most Valuable Player (MVP).
A total of 80 national teams from four regions – Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia (which includes Oceania) – competed in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers.
BAL's 17 Players
Full list of 17 players with Basketball Africa League experience in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup rosters*:
| national team | Name | BAL experience |
| Angola | Gerson Domingos | 2021-2023 (Petro de Luanda) |
| Angola | Childe Dundao | 2021-2023 (Petro de Luanda) |
| Angola | Gerson Lukeny Gonçalves | 2021-2023 (Petro de Luanda) |
| Angola | Leonel Paulo | 2021-2022 (Petro de Luanda) |
| Cape Verde | Joel Almeida | 2022 (Forces Armées et Police Basketball) |
| Cape Verde | Anderson Correia | 2022 (Petro de Luanda) |
| Ivory Coast | Souleyman Diabate | 2021 (Zamalek), 2022 (US Monastir), 2023 (Petro de Luanda) |
| Ivory Coast | Mike Cute | 2023 (Abidjan Basket Club) |
| Egypt | Amr Sherif El Gendy | 2023 (Al Ahly) |
| Egypt | Omar Hesham Hussein | 2021-2022 (Zamalek) |
| Egypt | Anas Osama Mahmoud | 2021-2022 (Zamalek) |
| Egypt | Omar Tarek Oraby | 2023 (Al Ahly) |
| Egypt | Ehab Amin | 2023 (Al Ahly) |
| Egypt | Amr Ibrahim Zahran | 2023 (Al Ahly) |
| Lebanon | Wael Arakji | 2021 (US Monastir) |
| Southern Sudan | Khaman Maluach | 2022 (Cobra Sport via BAL Elevate) and 2023 (AS Douanes via BAL Elevate) |
| Southern Sudan | Anunwa “Nuni” Omot | 2023 (Al Ahly) |
*As of August 24, 2023 (all listings are subject to change)
About BAL
The Basketball Africa League, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA, is a professional league featuring 12 teams from across Africa that completed its third season in May 2023.
Based in Dakar, Senegal, BAL builds on club competitions hosted by FIBA Africa across the continent and marks the NBA's first collaboration to operate a league outside of North America. Fans can follow BAL @theBAL on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube and register their interest in receiving more information at BAL.NBA.com.
Conclusion
The 2023 FIBA World Championship witnesses the remarkable presence of 17 players enriched by their experience in the Basketball Africa League. This melting pot of talent reflects the growing strength of African basketball, as these players, hailing from countries such as Angola, Ivory Coast and Egypt, elevate their national teams with their skill.
The interconnection between BAL and the global basketball landscape resonates throughout the tournament, further solidifying the league's vital role in promoting African talent globally.
In this international competition, the presence of BAL players marks a constant evolution in the African sports scene. As these athletes unite their BAL experiences with the FIBA World Championship stages, the frontiers of African sporting potential expand, inspiring basketball enthusiasts and future generations of players across the continent.
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Picture: © 2023 FIBA
