By Abdi Ali
Published March 6, 2021
More than 25 National Basketball Association (NBA) live games shall be screened across Kenya throughout the second half of the 2020-21 NBA Season.
This is made possible through a multi-year partnership between NBA and Kenya’s Nation Media Group (NMG) whose NTV television network is the official free-to-air broadcast partner of the NBA in the East African country of 52 million people.
The partnership starts on March 8, 2021 when Team LeBron takes on Team Durant in the 70th NBA All-Star Game at 2:30 AM EAT.
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As part of the agreement, NTV will also broadcast regular-season games, the NBA Playoffs and Conference Finals, and a weekly magazine show, NBA Action.
“We are thrilled to launch our first free-to-air broadcast partnership in Kenya with Nation Media Group,” says NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams. “This partnership is part of our continued efforts to make the game of basketball more accessible across the continent, and fans in Kenya will now have an opportunity to follow their favorite players and teams on NTV throughout the season.”
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“We are excited to enter into this partnership with the NBA to deliver to Kenyans the beautiful game of basketball,” says NMG’s Group CEO Stephen Gitagama. “This will be a great addition to the existing array of sports where our NTV audiences can access world-class basketball viewing experience from the comfort of their homes. This partnership reaffirms our commitment to the development of sports in Kenya and we believe will inspire our youth to take it up as a profession and make it to the international stage.”
NBA, a North American sports business built around four professional basketball leagues – National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, NBA G League and NBA 2K League – opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2010.
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To show its commitment to Africa, NBA says that its opening-night rosters for the 2020-21 NBA season featured a record-tying 14 African players and that there are more than 100 current and former players from or with at least one parent from Africa.
“Through NBA Cares, the league’s global social responsibility programme, the NBA family has created more than 90 places in Africa where children and families can safely live, learn, and play,” NBA says.
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The Jr NBA, the league’s global youth basketball programme for boys and girls, NBA says, has been implemented in 15 African countries.
“Basketball Without Borders Africa, the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program, has been held 17 times, with 10 former BWB Africa campers drafted into the NBA. In 2018, the NBA and SEED Project opened NBA Academy Africa, an elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal, for the top male prospects from throughout Africa and the first of its kind on the continent. Since then, nine NBA Academy Africa and NBA Academy Africa Women’s Program participants have committed to NCAA Division-1 schools in the U.S.A,” NBA says.
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