Eight basketball players of African descent have been drafted into the National Basketball Association(NBA) during the league’s annual draft exercise.
Cameroonian national Christian Koloko, a centre playing for Arizona State University, was drafted by the Toronto Raptors,
20-year-old Senegalese centre Khalifa Diop likewise picked by the Cleveland Cavaliers after a successful stint playing basketball in Spain’s Liga ACB.
The Washington Wizards similarly picked 18-year-old Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) national Yannick Nzosa who is currently plying his trade for Spanish basketball team after joining the side in 2019.
Five other players with direct ties to Africa were also drafted into the NBA.
They are: Ousmane Dieng, a French national with roots in Senegal, Mark Williams and Ochai Agbaji from Nigeria, Moussa Diabate from Guinea, and Ismael Kamagate from Ivory Coast.
Once they are recruited, candidates are bound to sign professional basketball contracts with the teams that have selected them.