May 17, 2022 – 7:46 p.m
Deep sadness in German basketball!
Former national basketball player Ademola Okulaja died on Monday at the age of 46.
Okulaja played 172 times for Germany and in 2002 won the bronze medal at the World Cup with Dirk Nowitzki’s team (43).
In his youth, Okulaja played for Alba Berlin, among others, before moving to college in North Carolina. There he played for the Tar Heels for four years before moving back to Alba.
Later he was under contract in Barcelona, Treviso and Chimki/Russia.
In 2008, a tumor was discovered in his seventh thoracic vertebra. He later told Stern about the chemotherapy: “The two weeks were damn hard for me, the hardest fight I’ve ever experienced.”
The tumor had fractured the vertebra, Okulaja got a titanium vertebra. In 2009 he defeated cancer.
Most recently he worked as a consultant and event manager.
Okulaja leaves behind a wife and two sons.
