Portland Trail Blazers’ Aminu to Participate in First NBA Game in Africa
Email to a friend
Permalink
Friday, July 31, 2015
Elle Uecker of GoLocalPDX partner site Oregon Sports News
Al-Farouq Aminu. Photo credit NBA.com
An offseason acquisition from the Dallas Mavericks, forward Al-Farouq Aminu will play for Team Africa as it takes on Team World in the NBA Africa game set to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa this Saturday. This game comes as part of the partnership between Basketball Without Borders and the NBA, and is the first game in NBA history to take place in Africa.
Ahead of the game, Aminu's been showing his enthusiasm. Upon arrival he tweeted, “First night in Johannesburg and I’m too excited about everything.” On Wednesday, he took some time out from team training to participate in a Basketball Without Borders Camp event, posting an Instagram photo of him playing with students at the American International School of Johannesburg.
Aminu, who was born in the United States, is eligible to play for Team Africa because of his Nigerian heritage. His first trip to Africa was for another Basketball Without Borders event in 2012. Since then he has represented Nigeria in the AfroBasket tournament and continued work with Basketball Without Borders, participating in the NBA West Africa Development Camp and helping solidify the relationship between the NBA and the continent of Africa.
Other league players, including Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka and former Portland Trail Blazer Nicolas Batum, will join Farouq on Team Africa. The team will be captained by Luol Deng of the Miami Heat, who commented on the historic nature of the game earlier this week. “For us it means a lot, finally having a game here and I think for everyone who is a basketball fan it’s a huge step forward.”
Earlier this month, Aminu signed a four year, $30 million contract with the Blazers. He is a dark horse candidate for a starting forward position this season in the absence of last year’s starting forwards LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum.
Last season with the Mavericks, Aminu averaged 5.6 points in 18.5 minutes played per game and shot 41.2 percent from the floor. While his offensive statistics were less than stellar, Aminu averaged 4.6 rebounds per game and was a solid asset on defense. He was not a starter during his season with Dallas, and would have to improve his production to earn a spot in the starting five this season in Portland.
The NBA Africa game will be held on Saturday, August 1 at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. The game will be broadcast in the United States on ESPN beginning at 7 a.m. PT.
GoLocalPDX partner Oregon Sports News: Since 2011, Oregon Sports News has provided entertaining, hard-hitting local sports news & commentary every weekday. To read more from this author, check out Oregon Sports News here.
Related Slideshow: 12 of the Greatest Sports Movies of All Time
Hank Stern ranks his top twelve favorite sports films.
Prev
Next
#12 Rollerball
Some of the non-athletic scenes in this dystopian classic show their age, but Rollerball is a strangely prescient film that anticipated both the corporatization of sport and fans’ limitless taste for violence. Bonus points for the ominous intro music.
Prev
Next
#11 A League of Their Own
A comedy that looks back to the antithesis of corporate sport – a women’s baseball league during World War II with many memorable lines to choose from (e.g.,”There’s no crying in baseball.”)
Prev
Next
#10 Remember The Titans
Yes, filmmakers took liberties with some of the facts dealing with the integration of a high school football team in Virginia. But there’s a reason football teams often screen this film on the eve of big games. It’s a damn inspirational tale.
Prev
Next
#9 The Natural
This film has grown on me over time. Originally, it seemed slow and schmaltzy. Now, it seems well-paced and charming. Then and now, the re-created scenes of pre-World War II ballparks arrive like perfectly preserved postcards from the past.
Prev
Next
#8 The Longest Yard
Not the remake with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. But the hilarious original with Burt Reynolds and Eddie Albert as a wonderfully villainous warden who pits the guards against the inmates in a grudge football game that includes former Green Bay linebacker Ray Nitschke and other ex-football players like Sonny Sixkiller and Joe Kapp, both stalwart Pac-8 quarterbacks long, long ago.
Prev
Next
#6 Rocky
Often imitated, but never replicated. The definitive underdog boxing story featuring Sylvester Stallone before he became a self-caricature in multiple sequels. Impossible to hear the theme song without being motivated to get off the couch.
Prev
Next
#5 Seabiscuit
A fantastic book as well as a great movie. Like “The Natural,” Seabiscuit captures its Depression-era setting for modern-day viewers taken back to an era when horse racing actually meant something in America.
Prev
Next
#4 Requiem for a Heavywei
A too often-forgotten film these days but a wonderful boxing drama that shows the sport’s underside with memorable performances by Mickey Rooney, Jackie Gleason and Anthony Quinn.
Prev
Next
#3 Hoosiers
Want to know something about small-town America in the 1950s and about Indiana basketball? This hoops movie does all of that with a healthy dose of redemption throughout.
Prev
Next
#2 Bull Durham
There’s a pretty good case to be made this movie played a huge part in the rebirth and re-marketing of minor league baseball. As written by former minor leaguer Ron Shelton, there are many great scenes to choose from but this one is a favorite.
Prev
Next
#1 Raging Bull
A rags-to-riches-to-rags story of boxer Jake LaMotta meets the actor born to play him, Robert De Niro. Not a false moment in this black-and-white powerhouse.
Related Articles
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Email to a friend
Permalink
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It