The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) announced the full roster of players and coaches who will participate in the NBA Africa Game 2018 on August 4.
The game is scheduled to be played at the Sun Arena at Time Square in Pretoria.
The NBA previously held two sold-out Africa games, in Johannesburg in 2015 and 2017, in support of charities including the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Boys and Girls Clubs of South Africa, SOS Children’s Villages South Africa (SOSCVSA) and Unicef.
In honour of the centenary of Nelson Mandela, this year the game will be played in support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
The NBA’s third game in Africa will again feature a Team Africa versus Team World format.
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Team Africa will be composed of players playing in the NBA who were either born in Africa or have direct family ties to the continent.
Team World will be composed of players from the rest of the world.
Luol Deng, who plays for Los Angeles Lakers, with family ties in South Sudan and Ian Mahinmi of the Washington Wizards with a parent from Benin will join Team Africa.
A team which includes Al-Farouq Aminu (Nigeria), Bismack Biyombo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Cheick Diallo (Mali), Joel Embiid (Cameroon), Evan Fournier (Algeria), Serge Ibaka (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (Democratic Republic of the Congo), and Pascal Siakam (Cameroon).
Team Africa will be coached by Miami Heat’s assistant coach, Juwan Howard.
Team World will be coached by San Antonio Spurs’ assistant coach Ettore Messina from Italy.
John Collins (USA), JaVale McGee (USA), Dennis Smith Jr (USA) and Marvin Williams (USA) join Team World, which includes Harrison Barnes (USA), Danilo Gallinari (Europe), Rudy Gay (USA), Khris Middleton (USA), and Hassan Whiteside (USA).
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NBPA executive director Michele Roberts and NBA commissioner Adam Silver will attend the game along with Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Sun Arena will also host basketball legends such as NBA global ambassador Dikembe Mutombo from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Patrick Hunt (president of the World Association of Basketball Coaches, Australia).
According to reports, former Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players Swin Cash, Astou N’Diaye, Allison Feaster, Clarisse Machanguana and Ruth Riley will also be there.
The NBA Africa Game 2018 will take place following the 16th edition of Basketball without Borders (BWB) Africa which takes place in Johannesburg from August 1 to 4.
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