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Nine-time NBA champion Steve Kerr has praised the widespread basketball talent on African soil, saying it needs to be correctly harnessed. Kerr, the head coach of Golden State who will also be leading Team USA at the 2024 Olympics, was in the Egyptian capital Cairo last week for a Basketball Without Borders (BWB) camp.
“There’s so much talent here,” Kerr told the BBC World Service.
“It’s important for the NBA to try to continue to develop all these young players so that’s why we’re here helping to teach them.
“We’re seeing more and more African players become not just NBA players but All-Stars, when you think about Giannis [Antetokounmpo], Pascal Siakam – players like that – and, obviously, Dikembe [Mutombo] years ago.”
Antetokounmpo, who was named the NBA Finals’ best player last year, has Nigerian roots, Siakam hails from Cameroon – as does Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid – while Kinshasa-born Mutombo was an eight-time All-Star. Read more.
