Support Nigerian Basketball: An Inspirational Story

I’d planned to start the day with something different but this article on Bleacher Report just won my heart over.

So this 16 year old boy wrote to all 30 teams on the NBA telling them he wants a team he can root for in the league and asking each club to give him reasons why he should choose them. In each of the letter, he mentioned a few things about the club and drew the club logo at the bottom of the letter. Read Here

Sadly, only one team replied – Minnesota Timberwolves – and they gave him 10 reasons why he should choose them, together with an autographed ball. As expected, Minnesota Timberwolves got another die-hard fan.

Three words - THIS IS SWEET!!!

The things I find impressive are:

1. The amount of knowledge the boy has about all the teams in the NBA.

2. The love people have for basketball. The young man is a basketball die-hard fan at 16. He surely didn’t get there overnight.

3. The importance that some clubs attach to fan base and fan management.

This is where I hope we will be in the future. I hope the Nigerian clubs share this big dream of mine.

Written by @BBallNaija

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We have lots of people with the love for Basketball in Nigeria but they have no means to feed their passion. Not enough websites/blogs updating the fans on basketball (even on other sports besides football). That's just one, I know you know the rest.

The sports governing bodies in the country spend too much time and money on football, which is not an issue since Nigeria was colonized by Britain and their number one sport is Football which makes it ours too (or so I think).

Basketball was invented in America. Nigerians and Nigeria will (by all means) love to be like the number one nation in the world. Our entertainment industry and politics have their signature all over them.

America is one of the world power even at our beloved football. So why do we reject their sports (Yes, SPORTS. Most Nigerians do not like American Football and Baseball also)

Well, back to basketball. Nigerians are built to play the hoops sports. We have lots of Nigerians plying their trade in the NBA and many have climbed the ladder to the apex. Akeem Olajuwon is one of the greatest Basketball player of all time. We also have Jamal Olasewere. Just to mention a minute few.

According to Wikipedia, Nigeria has produced the most NBA players of any African nation with 13 players. Check out the list here.

Nigerians, let's increase our chances of winning medals at the Olympics. Let's increase our chances of winning trophies at the continental and world level. We'll also make the whole world take the country more serious in the world of sports.

Our national basketball team, D'Tigers, are doing a great job. Nigeria is ranked 24th in the present FIBA World ranking. Imagine if Nigeria Basketball can have half the follower-ship our football has (meanwhile, we are ranked 42nd in the FIFA World ranking). Do the math! We are better off loving basketball more.

Pick a basketball team in Nigeria to support today.


SAVANNAH CONFERENCE

• Mark Mentors (Abuja)
• Bauchi Nets B.C.(Bauchi)
• Kano Pillars (basketball)(Kano)
• Immigrations (Minna)
• Plateau Peaks (Jos)
• Gombe Bulls (Gombe)
• FCT Rocks (Abuja)
• Kada Stars (Kaduna)

ATLANTIC CONFERENCE

• Oluyole Warriors (Ibadan)
• Dodan Warriors (Lagos)
• Delta Force (Delta)
• Lagos Islanders (Lagos)
• Nigeria Customs (Lagos)
• Union Bank Basketball Club
• Police Baton (Lagos)
• Kwara Falcons (Kwara)