Sports

NBA Africa announces Season Two of ‘Born & Bred’ basketball documentary series

Published

2 weeks ago

September 2, 2024

NBA Africa has announced the return of the Season Two of its original documentary series, “Born & Bred”, which will premiere on the NBA App.

According to the announcement, the docuseries has with five episodes which tells the stories of current and former NBA Academy Africa student athletes drawn from Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt and Senegal as they pursue their basketball dreams at the academy and beyond.

“The Season Two of “Born & Bred” features the first NBA Academy Africa prospect drafted to the NBA Ulrich Chomche from Cameroon who got drafted into the Toronto Raptors; former NBA G League Ignite players, Babacar Sané (Utah Jazz; Senegal) and Thierry Darlan (Central African Republic), as well as current NBA Academy Africa prospects, Ali Assran (Egypt) and Modou Fall Thiam (Senegal).

“Chomche became the first prospect from one of the three NBA Academies around the world to be drafted directly to the NBA when he was selected 57th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies and traded to the Toronto Raptors in the 2024 NBA Draft.

“During his time at NBA Academy Africa, he was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the 2022 Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp and participated in the Basketball Africa League’s (BAL) Elevate program, representing Rwanda Energy Group Basketball Club (REG BBC) in 2023 and Cameroon’s Forces Armées et Police in 2022.”

The first episode of the series titled, “Small Village. Big Dreams”, also featured Chomche and is available to watch on the NBA App.

‘All five episodes will be available to stream on the NBA App, with one episode releasing each week throughout September.

“Descriptions of each Season Two of the “Born & Bred” episode are include “Small Village. Big Dreams” featuring Ulrich Chomche, an 18-year-old forward from Bafang, Cameroon, who is set to make his NBA debut later this year during the 2024-25 NBA season. Chomche joined NBA Academy Africa in 2019.

“He represented Team World at the 2024 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon in April, before declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft. He became the seventh Cameroonian to be drafted, joining Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (NBA Draft 2001), Luc Mbah a Moute (NBA Draft 2008), seven-time NBA All-Star and 2022-23 Kia NBA MVP Joel Embiid (NBA Draft 2014), two-time NBA All-Star Pascal Siakam (NBA Draft 2016), Christian Koloko (NBA Draft 2022) and Yves Missi (NBA Draft 2024).

Episode 2 titled “Birth of Young Ossoko” features Babacar Sané, a 20-year-old forward from Ziguinchor, Senegal. Following his breakthrough performances during the BAL’s second season, he spent two years with NBA G League Ignite, before going undrafted in the 2024 NBA Draft and signing with the Jazz earlier this month.

Episode 3 which is titled “Breaking Ground” features Ali Assran, a 17-year-old forward from Cairo, Egypt. Assran represented the U17 Egyptian national team at the 2024 FIBA Basketball World Cup and joined the NBA Academy Africa in 2023 which follows him as he continues to discover his passion for basketball while channeling his struggles into determination and finding solace on the court.

Episode 4, “The Quiet Leader” features Modou Fall Thiam, a 19-year-old from Senegal who joined NBA Academy Africa in 2023. Hailing from Yeumbeul, the athletic dunker faced an early injury which saw the young point guard sidelined in his second year at the academy.

Thiam details his journey of playing in several international tournaments, participating in the BAL’s third season as a BAL Elevate member of Nigeria’s Kwara Falcons, and the adversity of dealing with an injury as a young athlete.

Episode 5, “Against All Odds” features Thierry Darlan, who as a 20-year-old guard from Bangui, Central African Republic became the sixth NBA Academy graduate and third from the NBA Academy Africa to sign with NBA G League Ignite.

Named the MVP of the 2022 BWB Africa camp in Egypt, Darlan also led the academy team to a championship at the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta, Georgia the same year.

Following his BAL debut with Angola’s Petro de Luanda in 2022 as part of the BAL Elevate program, Darlan returned to the BAL in 2024, making his professional debut during the Nile Conference for Central African Republic’s Bangui Sporting Club.

Related Topics:Basketball Born & Bred Documentary Featured NBA Africa

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Sports

Tears as slain Ugandan Olympian is laid to rest with full military honours

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2024

Isaac Dachen

There were uncontrollable tears and wailing as thousands of mourners turned out in eastern Uganda for the funeral of Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who was set ablaze by her former boyfriend and later died.

At the solemn burial ceremony conducted on Saturday, Cheptegei was buried with full military honours with representatives the government and different arms of the country’s military formations in attendance.

Cheptegei who had participated in the road race at the Paris Olympic Games in July, was attacked by her ex-partner,
Dickson Ndiema, who doused her with petrol and set her ablaze.

She was to die four days later after the fire had consumed over 75 percent of her body. Ndiema himself who also suffered burns in the fire, died a few days later.

Local media reported that Ndiema allegedly attacked Cheptegei as she returned from church with her two daughters and younger sister in the village of Kinyoro, following a disagreement over a piece of land that belonged to her.

Cheptegei’s sporting successes include winning the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand, and a year later earning first place in the Padova Marathon in Italy and setting a national record for the marathon.

Cheptegei’s tragic death has sparked anger over the high levels of violence against women in Kenya, particularly in the athletics community, with the marathoner becoming the third elite runner to allegedly die at the hands of a romantic partner since 2021.

Her father Joseph Cheptegei told journalists that his daughter had approached police at least three times to file complaints against Ndiema, most recently on August 30, two days before the deadly attack.

Sports

South African World Cup winner bags three-year ban for doping

Published

5 days ago

September 11, 2024

Isaac Dachen

South African Rugby World Cup 2019 winner, Sibusiso Nkosi, has been slammed with a three-year ban by World Rugby after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.

His local club, Cheetahs, which made the announcement in a statement, said Nkosi’s urine sample showed traces of an anabolic steroid used by body builders and the suspension will run until July 15, 2027.

“Sbu had a World Rugby test in May and his A sample was positive. He has been banned for three years,” the club said.

Local media reports that the 28-year-old Nkosi, who understudied Cheslin Kolbe at the World Cup in Japan, is the second 2019 champion to be banned for doping with the other before fly-half Elton Jantjies who was suspended for four years last January for using a banned substance.

“Nkosi made the first of 16 international appearances in 2018 against England and won his last cap against New Zealand three years later. He scored nine Test tries,” a local sports paper said.

“He suffered mental health challenges while playing for the Bulls and disappeared for several weeks in 2022, triggering a police search, before being found at the home of a relative.

“After stints with the Sharks and Bulls, Nkosi joined the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs last March on a one-year contract.”