First the name, then his game catches the eye: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman is THE life insurance of Darüssafaka Istanbul! The 29-year-old shooting guard has always been there, always present and always on the offensive in the past, extremely challenging weeks. On the final matchday of the BCL group phase, it was 33 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists that put him in the spotlight and gave his team a ticket to the second round. Although the American is a man for big nights due to his name and style of play, his path to the Basketball Champions League was challenging.
Growing up on the east coast of the United States, in the state of Pennsylvania, there was initially no lack of interest in him – according to reports there were more than 30 high school offers – but since Abdur-Rahkman liked to take risks, he turned them all down waited (read: hoped) for a big program to be offered. The son of a basketball coach and a basketball player was about to get his wish fulfilled – the Michigan Wolverines came forward. Abdur-Rahkman played very successfully for four years in one of the top programs in the NCAA. Among others, alongside Moritz Wagner.
But the longed-for jump into the NBA didn’t follow, but rather a broken foot. Instead of workouts and self-promotion, a summer (2018) of rest and recovery followed, which ultimately ended in the NBA G-League. When he arrived there, the American tried his luck as quickly as possible with Canton Charge, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ farm team. Solid performances over more than two years were not enough – also due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic – to make the jump to the top echelon of basketball, but were enough to make the jump to Europe.
Here you can move up the career ladder step by step, sometimes as a starter, sometimes as a sixth man. Warsaw (2021/2022 | 41 games | 12.9 ppg) was followed by Pesaro (2022/2023 | 36 | 12.8) and now finally Istanbul. And also a double function: In the Turkish league, Abdur-Rahkman is part of the starting lineup, in the BCL the bench microwave – and in every way a remarkable offensive machine with the desire to get as close to and/or in the NBA as possible.
2024-01-02 00:43:56
#GIANT #magnifying #glass #MuhammadAli #AbdurRahkman #MHP #RIESEN #Ludwigsburg
