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Chris Paul, Luol Deng to headline NBA's first-ever exhibition game in Africa
The NBA's going to Africa this August, and it's bringing a slew of stars for the first-ever NBA game on the continent.
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The charity All-Star Game, which the league had been considering since at least last summer, will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 1, with proceeds from the sold-out affair benefitting Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, SOS Children’s Villages Association of South Africa and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. ESPN will broadcast the game at 9 a.m. ET, offering a pretty wonderful mid-offseason pick-me-up for fans who (with all due respect to Summer League) be starving for something resembling honest-to-goodness NBA action.
The game will feature a Team Africa vs. Team World format — similar to the USA vs. the World reboot of All-Star Weekend's Rising Stars Challenge — that will include 19 NBA players, with the two sides led by multiple-time All-Stars. Here are the rosters, from the league's Thursday announcement:
Team Africa, comprised of players born in Africa and second-generation African players, will feature team captain and two-time NBA All-Star Luol Deng (Miami Heat; Great Britain; born in South Sudan), Al-Farouq Aminu (Portland Trail Blazers; U.S.; parents from Nigeria), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; parents from Nigeria), Nicolas Batum (Charlotte Hornets; France; parent from Cameroon), Bismack Biyombo (Toronto Raptors; Democratic Republic of the Congo), Boris Diaw (San Antonio Spurs; France; parent from Senegal), Gorgui Dieng (Minnesota Timberwolves; Senegal), Festus Ezeli (Golden State Warriors; Nigeria), Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City Thunder; Congo)*, and Luc Mbah a Moute (Sacramento Kings; Cameroon).
Team World, comprised of players from the rest of the world, will feature team captain, NBPA President and eight-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers; U.S.), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards; U.S.), Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets; U.S.), Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies; Spain), Pau Gasol (Chicago Bulls; Spain), Jeff Green (Memphis Grizzlies; U.S.), Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics; U.S.), Evan Turner (Boston Celtics; U.S.) and Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic; Montenegro).
(The asterisk next to Ibaka's name means he won't be playing, as he continues his rehabilitation after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee back in March.)
"It will be my first visit to the continent, and I cannot wait to contribute to the growth of the game on and off the court,” said Paul, the president of the National Basketball Players Association and an eight-time All-Star, in a league statement.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, winner of five NBA championships and three Coach of the Year awards, will head up the African squad. He'll be joined on the bench by longtime former Spurs assistant, current Atlanta Hawks coach and reigning NBA Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer, and Monty Williams, who was recently hired as the associate head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder after being fired following five seasons at the helm of the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans. Brooklyn Nets bench boss Lionel Hollins will coach the World team, assisted by the Boston Celtics' Brad Stevens.
The clubs even have general managers — the Nets' Billy King and native Nigerian Masai Ujiri of the Toronto Raptors for Team Africa, and R.C. Buford of the Spurs for Team World — though it's not entirely clear what their responsibilities will entail. (It seems doubtful we'll see trades or contract negotiations, for example.)
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will also be in attendance, joining Nigeria's Hakeem Olajuwon, now an ambassador for NBA Africa, and newly minted Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, a product of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a global ambassador for the NBA.
While this marks the first ever NBA game on the African continent, the league's relationship to Africa stretches back more than three decades. More than 35 players from Africa have appeared in the NBA since the Houston Rockets selected Olajuwon with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft, with six — Mbah a Moute and Joel Embiid of Cameroon; Ibaka of Congo; Biyombo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ezeli of Nigeria; and Dieng of Senegal — finishing the 2014-15 season on NBA rosters. Denver Nuggets first-round draft pick Emmanuel Mudiay, who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will join them this coming season.
The NBA has also partnered with FIBA to hold Basketball Without Borders basketball development and community outreach programs in Africa since 2003. The BWB camps allow young players from the continent to train under NBA players and coaches on teams created "without regard to race and nationality," while also providing various life-skills workshops for the teen campers, some of whom have wound up making it all the way to the league
“I am extremely proud to be a part of the NBA’s first game in Africa,” Deng said in a league statement. “Coming from South Sudan and having participated in the Basketball without Borders Africa camps in Johannesburg previously, I am truly honored to be part of this historic event.”
Deng expanded on his excitement in a chat with ESPN.com's Michael Wallace:
"A lot of players from Africa and all over the world work so hard to make it to the NBA so they can represent their country with pride," said Deng, who spent time last season recruiting NBA players to participate. "Now, to finally have a chance to bring the game we all love home to Africa ... it's hard to really explain how much that means. It will impact people the rest of their lives."
The maiden Africa game is just the latest in a long line of NBA efforts to increase both worldwide interest in basketball and its own global reach, following in the footsteps of its annual Global Games slate. Silver has said in the past that be believes international expansion — not to Africa, but to Europe — is the league's "manifest destiny."
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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