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The death of former national team captain Ademola Okulaja caused great dismay in German basketball and far beyond. Whether in Spain or even in the NBA: the scene mourns Okulaja, who died so suddenly. Companions reported with thoughtful words about the sudden death of the 46-year-old.
Ademola an “Albatross from the very beginning”
“It’s so hard to understand and so incredibly sad,” wrote Marko Pesic on Twitter. The managing director of the FC Bayern basketball team won bronze at the 2002 World Cup alongside Okulaja.
Okulaja, who won the Korac Cup and the German championship with Alba Berlin, died in the capital on Tuesday at the age of just 46. “We are deeply saddened by Ademola’s death. He was an Albatross from the very beginning and one of the first to start a great basketball career from our youth program,” said Alba Managing Director Marco Baldi: “Today the Alba family has a friend and lost a longtime companion.”
Even FC Barcelona is deeply touched by the news
FC Barcelona, for whom Okulaja spent a year in his successful career, was also shocked. “It is with great regret that we received the news of the death of Ademola Okulaja, who played for our team in the 2001/2002 season and was a German basketball legend,” the Catalans said.
“Ademola Okulaja portrayed all that is good about our sport as a true competitor on the field and an even better gentleman off it,” said EuroLeague boss Jordi Bertomeu. You couldn’t “be sadder”.
“We will always fondly remember the fighting and never giving up Ademola, who always left everything on the field. May he rest in peace,” said DBB President Ingo Weiss on the death of the once important German national player. (lde/sid)
