JUBA, South Sudan, Mar 15 – NBA Africa, Stanbic Bank and the Luol Deng Foundation have launched the first Jr. NBA League in South Sudan at the new Stanbic basketball court unveiled at St. Mark’s Orthodox School in Juba last December.
The Stanbic Jr. NBA League, featuring 30 boys and girls teams ages 16 and under, tipped off its inaugural season on March 7, with the regular season set to be played through July, followed by the playoffs and finals in August.
The Stanbic Jr. NBA League format will emulate that of the NBA. Each team will represent one of the 30 NBA teams and has received corresponding NBA team-branded jerseys for their games.
The league has tipped off with a draft where the participating school and community teams selected an NBA team to represent during the season.
Two-time NBA All-Star and South Sudan Basketball Federation President Luol Deng participated in the activities.
The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, teaches fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow an improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.
Jr. NBA programming has directly reached more than 170,000 youth across 18 African countries.
About NBA Africa
NBA Africa is an affiliate of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.
NBA Africa conducts the league’s business in Africa, including the Basketball Africa League (BAL), and has opened subsidiary offices in Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Lagos, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya.
The NBA has a long history in Africa and opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010.
The league’s efforts on the continent have focused on increasing access to basketball and the NBA through youth and elite development, social responsibility, media distribution, corporate partnerships, NBA Africa Games, an NBA Store, the BAL, and more.
NBA games and programming are available in all 54 African countries, and the NBA has hosted three sold-out exhibition games on the continent since 2015.
The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and NBA Africa, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that tipped off its fourth season with the inaugural Kalahari Conference group phase in South Africa on March 9, 2024. Fans can follow @NBA_Africa and @theBAL on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
