The National Basketball Association of the United States NBA will build 100 basketball courts in schools and communities across the country.
This was revealed today by the NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating officer Mark Tatum when he met President William Ruto at State house Nairobi where he was accompanied by five times NBA Champion Derek Fisher and the US Amabssador to Kenya Meg Whitman.
The construction of the Basketball courts will commence in the next decade in an effort to grow the sport in the country.
“Our collaboration with Opportunity International reflects our commitment to investing in local basketball ecosystems across Africa and providing youth with the resources and opportunities to develop their leadership and basketball skills,” said Mark Tatum.
NBA Africa today launched a multi year youth basketball development partnership in collaboration with Safaricom Kenya which targets more than 10,000 youth in Kenya through the junior NBA tournaments, fit clinics, coaching development and other basketball development programmes.
Atul Tandon, CEO of Opportunity International,said, “We are thrilled to work with NBA Africa to bring world-class basketball courts and coaches to Africa. This initiative is key to our longstanding commitment to bringing more education and more opportunities to the youth of Africa. We are grateful to NBA Africa, NBA Deputy Commissioner Tatum, and our longtime friend and partner Sam Garvin for coming together to help build a rising Africa.”
The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.
