Nairobi Thunder players during a training session at the Nyayo National Stadium on November 20, 2024 ahead of the Basketball Africa League Eastern Division qualifiers to be held in Nairobi later this month.
The local basketball landscape could change if Kenyan champions, Nairobi City Thunder, make it to the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
That journey begins tomorrow with the East Division (Conference) finals dubbed Road to 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) at the Nyayo National Stadium gymnasium and later Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) Indoor Arena where Thunder must make the final to guarantee a handsome pay cheque.
The financial trappings that come along with playing in BAL is arguably the highest-paying basketball league in Africa with players minting good money per month in salaries and prize money.
The winning team package at BAL has not changed since the 2021 BAL after Covid-19 disrupted the 2020 inaugural tournament after teams had gone through the 2019 qualifying tournaments.
The league was established in 2019 and is co-organised by the National Basketball Association (NBA) Africa and the International Basketball Federation (Fiba).
In a nutshell, NBA and Fiba take care of everything for the team that qualifies for BAL in terms of travelling and salaries.
The winning teams in the last four editions pocketed $100,000 (Sh13 million) each. Runners-up were rewarded with $75,000 (Sh9.8m), third placed finisher $55,000 (Sh7.2m), and fourth-place finishers $25,000 (Sh3.3m).
That is not all, player salaries range from average, maximum and minimum to the highest paid and more according to www.josecolorado.com.
Player salary ranges from a minimum of $1,500 (Sh195,000) to $35,000 (Sh4.55m) per month for the league that starts in March to June. Those earning up to Sh4.55m are some of the best players from the previous season.
Teams that qualify for BAL are allowed to have four foreign players only where two should be from African countries. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.
BAL is divided into three conferences -- the Kalahari Conference, Nile Conference and Sahara Conference -- that will have four teams each.
The 2025 BAL season will debut in a new location in Rabat, Morocco, on April 5, 2025.
The Kalahari Conference group phase is April 5-13, in Rabat. The Sahara Conference group phase is April 26-May 4, in Dakar. The Nile Conference group phase is May 17-25, in Kigali.
Eight teams from the three conferences will qualify for the play-offs in Pretoria beginning June 6 and ending with the 2025 BAL Finals.
“You only get paid the salaries up to the stage your team will reach. Remember after the group matches, teams fall out with eight heading into the play-offs,” said Nairobi City Thunder team manager Bernet Ojay.
Meanwhile, it’s a race against time to have the Nyayo National Stadium and Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) gymnasiums ready for the East Division (Conference) finals for the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) that starts tomorrow.
Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) will have to burn the midnight oil if the two venues are to get the much-required international glint to host some of Africa’s finest basketball teams over the next six days.
The 2,500-capacity Nyayo Stadium gymnasium will host the group matches tomorrow and Friday as the MISC Indoor Arenca is out of bounds with the venue booked for graduation.
A spot check by Nation Sports on the 40-year-old Nyayo facility on Tuesday found technicians busy replacing broken doors at the changing rooms and washrooms and stalling new toilet seats.
KBF Secretary General Angeja Luchiywa said that they expected new floodlights to be fixed last evening and leaks on the roof sealed.
“The playing surface is also scheduled for thorough cleaning and repainting,” said Luchiywa.
She said that repair works were going on as well at the MISC Indoor Arena.
Technicians were busy sanding and repainting the wooden surface at the 37-year-old 5,000 seater arena where the conference final is scheduled to be held.
“We are working hard to have the lighting systems at both venues fixed ahead of the matches,” said Luchiywa, adding that all the teams are tentatively scheduled to train at Absa Sports Club but reside at Stadion Hotel.
Two teams that will reach the final will automatically get their tickets to feature in the lucrative 2025 Basketball Africa League which will feature 12 clubs.
Kenyan champions Nairobi City Thunder will be eyeing history as the first Kenyan team to qualify for BAL.
Other teams to feature in the final qualifier are City Oilers (Uganda), Urunani (Burundi), Fox Sports (South Sudan), Kriol Star (Cape Verde), Made by Ball Blue Soldiers-MBB (South Africa), Matero Magic (Zambia) and Brave Hearts (Malawi).
Ururani, who won the regional qualifiers ahead of Thunder, and Fox Sports, were the first to arrive in the country on Monday with Matero Magic jetting in on Tuesday. Kriol Star arrive in batches. One lot landed in Nairobi yesterday while another group is expected in today.
Brave Hearts and City Oilers are due in today.
Luchivya said that MBB were also still expected though they had not communicated.
Thunder will launch their BAL quest in Group “A” against MBB tomorrow at 8pm while their group rivals Kriol Star and Brave Hearts will open the busy opening day at 12pm.
In Group “B”, City Oilers take on Fox Sports at 3p followed by the battle between Urunani and Matero Magic at 5.30pm.
