By: Cadence Wright
There are 30 teams in the NBA. Although the majority of the NBA teams are in the US, the Toronto Raptors are in Canada. People around the world see the NBA on TV and phones and the internet. People who live in other countries can play in the NBA but they have to get drafted and come live here. Because there is no professional league in Africa, President Obama started one.
The NBA is the 4th highest grossing sport in America. NBA players make millions. Stephen Curry is the highest paid player. He makes $34 million. The NBA is the wealthiest basketball league. You can’t make this kind of money playing professional basketball in other places like Africa. In Africa, they don’t have the NBA so many young kids have never had a chance to play pro there. The NBA is partnering with President Obama to bring the NBA to Africa.
The new league will be called Basketball Africa League or BAL. It is scheduled to begin in January 2020. The league will have 12 teams when it begins. The teams will represent Angola, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia. The league is in Africa so all the games will be played in Africa.
This is major to me because it gives an opportunity for people to play a professional sport. I already like President Obama a lot but this makes me like him even more because it shows leadership. We have a responsibility to give back to Africa because it’s where our ancestors are from. Oprah Winfrey opened a school for young girls in Africa to bring quality education there.
Working with people in other places helps us to learn their culture and we can share our culture.
When the new league’s games start airing on TV, I will watch the games because I’d like to see people from another country play. We have never seen these players and there might be better players there than Lebron and Michael Jordan. Some of those players could be less talented than American players because they might not have enough practice. I think the Africa league will do well because many people are tired of seeing LeBron and Stephen Curry in the finals. Whenever I see success in Africa it makes me feel good because I like to see Black people doing positive things and President Obama makes us proud.
