The Basketball Africa League (BAL), which was set to kick off last week but will not because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was a year in the making. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was excited to announce its formation and here are five things you should know about the BAL.
The Teams
The first qualifying rounds for the league were held on October 16, 2019. Here are the 12 teams that made the final cut:
Groupement Sportif des Pétroliers (Algeria), Petro de Luanda (Angola), Forces Armées et Police (Cameroon), Zamalek (Egypt), Gendarmerie Nationale Basketball Club (Madagascar), AS Police (Mali), AS Salé (Morocco), Ferroviàrio de Maputo (Mozambique), Rivers Hoopers BC (Nigeria), Patriots BC (Rwanda), AS Douanes (Senegal) and Union Sportive Monastirienne (Tunisia).
The official #BasketballAfricaLeague logo was announced in Kigali, Rwanda by BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall in the presence of His Excellency Paul Kagame ,Luol Deng, Olumide Oyedeji & representatives from FIBA Africa.
The league tips off in March 2020 🏀#Kamikaze 🏆 pic.twitter.com/rsFhgBsRwf— OCTOPIZZO (@OCTOPIZZO) December 20, 2019
