From Genoa to the USA, dreaming of playing in the NBA in the myth of Kobe Bryant. Among the best Azzurri prospects trying to make their way in the homeland of basketball there is also a Genoese boy born in 2002. His name is Abramo Canka and he was born and raised in the historic center by a Senegalese father and an Albanian mother. He was noticed almost by chance during a sports festival and so he started playing taking his first steps in the Tigrotti Don Bosco Sampierdarena. He then moved to the Tigullio Sport Team of Santa Margherita Ligure until 2016, before moving on to the youth academy of Stella Azzurra Roma, one of the most important in Italy. In 2018 he made his debut in Serie A2, at the age of only 16, with the Roseto Sharks, then he began his tour around the world, with the USA dream in his drawer.
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In 2020 he joined the Russians of Lokomotiv Kazan, first gaining experience with the Lithuanians of Nevezis on loan, then returning to the base. In August 2022 the great leap to the United States to land at the UCLA Bruins, one of the most prestigious teams in the US university championship (NCAA). So he began to show off and in the future he could take the big step towards the NBA draft to be selected by one of the most important basketball league franchises in the world.
In his first 15 games with the Bruins he is trying to carve out space with an average use of 6.7 minutes. Basketball experts consider him one of the greatest promises at national level and he also plays with the Italy shirt, with which he made the whole process from Under 15 to Under 20. In recent months he has also told his story and his passion for Sampdoria in a video published on youtube by the Blucerchiati’s official channels, starting from a difficult childhood: “My idol is my mum – he said – because she made sacrifices. She took a boat to pursue her dreams , then I was born immediately, she raised me alone with the help of family homes, people from the alleys and the center and many friends. For me she was a really important figure. Without her I don’t know what I would have done”.
