Received on the set of the program Actu Matin on Canal 3 Benin on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, the Franco-Beninese basketball player Ian Mahinmi revealed his involvement in the project, the NBA Africa, Basketball Africa League. Retired for a few years, Ian Mahinmi is now fully involved in this project which aims to promote young African talent. Read the last part of the interview instead.
What is the role of Ian Mahinmi in this NBA Africa League project?
I had the opportunity to become a shareholder of NBA Africa. Which makes me the owner of the NBA Africa but also the owner of the Basketball Africa League. But there is a sine qua non. That’s why I had to retire. And for good reason, I couldn’t be an NBA player and at the same time an NBA-affiliated League owner. So, I had made the choice even if it was difficult to retire and enter the organization of basketball on the African continent. But often people don’t realize it, but it was also a sacrifice for me.
Do we have a Beninese team in the Basketball Africa League?
The goal is to have one. We don’t currently have one. Just to explain the format of the Basketball Africa League called the BAL. Indeed, there are 12 teams which represent the best champion clubs of their country and we operate on two conferences and a final phase which we call the play-offs. There is the Sahara conference which is played in Dakar in Senegal in March, in April, at the beginning of May, we have the Moul conference which is played in Egypt in Cairo. Finally we have the final stages, the play-offs which are played in Kigali in Rwanda. There we are going to start the third season in March, in this format we have a winner every year who is the best African club.
Your impressions of the university games that will take place in Savalou from January 28 to February 05, 2023…
It is for me, very important. We’re going there this weekend. All these platforms that are put forward to give Beninese youth opportunities to assess the level and see what is happening among girls and boys, at university level it is very important. To be able to be close to these players and to have exchanges, these are very interesting opportunities. So I give an appointment to everyone in Savalou.
M.M.
