NBA Africa and Homecoming Festival, an annual event converging music, fashion, sport, art, and education, today announced their collaboration as the festival got underway in Lagos, Nigeria earlier this week.
As part of the event, NBA Africa will host a number of activations on Saturday, March 30, and Sunday, March 31, including a fashion and culture pop-up station at Alara, where fans will be able to customize their festival t-shirts, win limited edition merchandise and experience the league’s premium subscription service – NBA League Pass; take pictures and shoot free throws at a photo booth at Harbour Point; and attend a basketball game at Landmark, featuring some of the most talented Nigerian players.
The NBA’s history in Nigeria spans more than five decades, dating back to when Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and Oscar Robertson held basketball clinics in Lagos in 1971. There have been nearly 50 NBA players either born in Nigeria or with at least one Nigerian parent, including Hakeem Olajuwon, who was selected first overall in the 1984 NBA Draft and became the first African player to be selected first overall. The league’s office in Nigeria launched in January 2022.
Related: NBA Africa And Hennesy To Host League’s First NBA Crossover Lifestyle Event On The Continent
About NBA Africa
NBA Africa is an affiliate of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. NBA Africa conducts the league’s business in Africa, including the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and has opened subsidiary offices in Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Lagos, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya. The NBA has a long history in Africa and opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010. The league’s efforts on the continent have focused on increasing access to basketball and the NBA through youth and elite development, social responsibility, media distribution, corporate partnerships, NBA Africa Games, an NBA Store, the BAL, and more.
NBA games and programming are available in all 54 African countries, and the NBA has hosted three sold-out exhibition games on the continent since 2015. The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and NBA Africa, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that tipped off its fourth season with the inaugural Kalahari Conference held in Pretoria, South Africa from March 9-17, 2024. Fans can follow @NBA_Africa and @theBAL on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
