The Bucks, Pistons and Raptors are among teams that added Basketball Africa League alums to their rosters in Las Vegas: ‘It gives them more motivation’
LAS VEGAS – The 2-year-old Basketball Africa League hopes to one day have former players, coaches and referees making a name for themselves in the NBA. The BAL took its next step toward realizing its dream by having one player, two coaches and one referee take part in the NBA 2K23 Summer League in July.
“It’s about building capacity,” BAL president Amadou Fall told Andscape during the Vegas Summer League. “We have to continue to get better on all levels. It all starts with how we develop the coaches, officiating and the players. We want to continue to develop elite players, and there is no better place to do that than summer league.”
Egypt Zamalek center Anas Mahmoud was the first from the BAL to play in the NBA summer league, suiting up for the Toronto Raptors last year. The Milwaukee Bucks’ summer league roster in July included Evans Ganapamo, who played for the Cape Town Tigers of South Africa during the 2022 BAL season.
Two BAL head coaches served as assistants during the NBA summer league: the Cameroon Forces Armeés et Police’s Francois Enyegue (Bucks) and Emmanuel Mavomo (Raptors) of Espoir Fukash, who also led the Democratic Republic of the Congo team. Rwandan referee Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza, who officiated the first two BAL seasons, also refereed in the NBA summer league.
The 12-team Basketball Africa League debuted in 2021 after being delayed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic and finished its second season in May. The BAL is expected to again have games in Dakar, Senegal; Cairo; and Kigali, Rwanda, during the 2023 season, according to sources. The NBA hopes that the BAL will develop players, coaches and referees who will join the league one day.
While playing a role in the selection process, Fall described the BAL presence at the NBA summer league this month as a “huge surprise” to those selected.
“We didn’t really let them in on anything,” Fall said. “Our goal is to have a greater presence here. But we are grateful for the opportunity from the teams who have welcomed our people. It’s a big honor. It gives them more motivation.”
The Bucks enthusiastically reached out to Fall after the 2022 BAL season looking for suggestions about adding a player and assistant coach to their 2022 summer league roster. After Fall and the Bucks discussed several candidates, general manager Jon Horst and his staff settled on Ganapamo and Enyegue.
“Everyone has guest coaches during summer league,” Horst told Andscape. “You do a favor for an agent, or you do a favor for a player. That is part of the summer league culture to have a roster spot or a coaching staff spot to do something to help somebody. The more I thought about it, I said, ‘What are we doing, guys? The Basketball Africa League is what we should be trying to do something with.’ We believe in it as [a] grassroots growing market for us. …
“I said, ‘Let’s reach out to Gallo to get a player and a coach to be part of our summer league staff. You’re the expert. We are not.’ ”
Ganapamo is a native of Mandeville, Louisiana. His parents are from Central African Republic, and he grew up in an African household. The 6-foot-7 small forward played in college for the University of New Orleans and historically Black Prairie View A&M. Ganapamo has played professionally for Germany Rosenheim, Paris and for the Central African Republic national team. The 27-year-old averaged 16.2 points as a member of the Cape Town Tigers team that made the 2022 BAL playoffs in its first season in the league this year.
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