NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 9 – With NBA Africa committing to build 100 basketball courts in Kenya, local coaches will receive top notch training under NBA tutelage.
Speaking Tuesday during his maiden Kenyan visit, NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum, said the training of trainers will enhance consistency and further development of the game.
Tatum was accompanied by NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi, Kenya Country Operations Lead Micheal Finley and NBA legend Derek Fisher who will lead the coaching clinic of 80 boys and girls.
“To make sure that the youth in Kenya have access to better coaching, we have brought NBA legend Derik (Fisher) on this trip to spend time with those young boys and girls during the clinics and they will learn from the best who have played the game,” Tatum told Capital Sport.
To ensure continuity in the best of coaching in Kenya, Tatum confirmed that it will not be a one-off.
“We are investing on opportunity for many local coaches to learn the game, that is part of the program that we are doing with different governments. We are training coaches so that we do not have to bring in former NBA coaches like Derek Fisher oftenley.”
He added, “We have done that with the Basketball Africa League during the summer where we brought several coaches over to the Summer League and they were on the bench of NBA clubs. So, it’s those kinds of programs that we are getting coaches better tutelage under NBA coaching so that they can come back to the continent and train the next generation.”
Kenya Country Operations Lead Micheal Finley on his part welcomed the move noting that it will not only develop the game but boost the growth of economy in the country.
“This is a special moment for NBA in Kenya after opening office in November last year (2023). The program will involve developing the game from the school system,” Finley underscored.
The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.
Last year (2023), Jr. NBA programming directly reached more than 170,000 youth across Africa.
