Nikola Vucevic excited to represent the world as NBA grows in Africa
Nikola Vucevic is in South Africa representing the NBA for the first ever NBA exhibition in Africa. It is an incredible opportunity that is growing the game
Nikola Vucevic is a happy coach.
Well, not full time, but a happy coach nonetheless. He was paired with a youth team at a camp the NBA set up for children in South Africa and Vucevic’s team won in double overtime.
The WHITE Team (coached by @CP3 @KennethFaried35 & @NikolaVucevic) wins sudden death OT! #BWBAfrica pic.twitter.com/r0emsnVbC3
— NBA (@NBA) July 30, 2015
Mark him down as 1-0. But really everyone who got the chance to participate in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in South Africa ahead of its historic exhibition game this weekend, they are the ones who went 1-0.
The NBA has long worked to enrich the game with clinics in camps throughout the world, and specifically in Africa. The league has long worked to spread the game of basketball to a nation and a continent that has long contributed to the NBA and the sport but has rarely seen its best players playing on its soil.
For players making their first trip to South Africa, such as Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic, the experience has been overwhelmingly positive — and even somewhat surprising, beyond untapped coaching skill.
“It has all been positive so far for me,” Vucevic said during a conference call from South Africa. “The people here have been great to us. It was a really warm welcome from everyone. You can see everything the NBA is doing here means a lot to them. You can see when they have speeches and we go to different places, you can see there is a lot of emotion. The kids have been great, they are happy to see us. They ask a lot of questions and work with us. For me it has been a great experience.”
The NBA will play an exhibition game Saturday (August 1) in Johannesburg, marking the first NBA-sanctioned exhibition game to be played in Africa. Vucevic will join Chris Paul, Marc Gasol and Pau Gasol on Team World as they take on Team Africa, featuring Luol Deng, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nicolas Batum. The game will air in the U.S. on ESPN at 9 a.m.
The event culminates in the exhibition game Saturday. Vucevic has been in South Africa attending court dedications and clinics, events that have bridged the gap of the Atlantic Ocean and built the grassroots of the sport.
The chance to represent the NBA in this important effort for the game is a big deal to those attending, especially Nikola Vucevic, a young player on a team that has struggled some from an Eastern European country. Vucevic is the only player from that part of the world to participate in this game.
“It is really an honor for me to play in the first NBA game in Africa,” Vucevic said. “It’s great to be here among all those other greats from our league and coaches and executives. I’m trying to represent myself the best I can. Not only myself, but the Orlando Magic as well as my country. It really means a lot to me.”
The league has done events like these for a long time. It is the exhibition game that makes this trip special. And could be the first of many trips back to Africa to come.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league might bring preseason and even regular season games to South Africa. The response to this game has been tremendous. It reportedly sold out in a little less than an hour.
There is obviously a desire for more basketball in Africa. And it can be felt everywhere they go.
“I have been looking forward to this experience for a long time,” Vucevic said. “I have never been here. I wasn’t really sure how big of a deal it was going to be until I got here. You see there is a lot of people here and a lot of media. Wherever you go people are very excited to see us. They told us the arena sold out in less than an hour for the tickets for the game. It means a lot to the people and it means a lot to me as well to be chosen to come here.”
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Vucevic has been plenty of a world traveler.
He is Montenegrin, born in Switzerland, playing college basketball and pro basketball in the United States. This summer alone, he has returned home and he said he usually goes swimming in the Mediterranean. He now has this trip to Africa and a preseason game in Brazil and a regular season game in London.
Basketball has opened the door to the world for Vucevic. Through Basketball Without Borders and the NBA Africa Game, he has brought the world to basketball.
The exhibition game Saturday is probably not going to be much to watch. A lot of players going through the motions it seems. Vucevic has had a chance — and will have a chance — to interact with other players around the league. Vucevic said he hopes to get a workout in with Hakeem Olajuwon before he leaves, but he has talked with the African great and NBA Hall of Famer throughout the week.
Still the biggest impact from the game is not going to be the game on Saturday and the excitement of seeing NBA players for the first time in actual game action.
The biggest impact is the feeling those kids had after they won their game with NBA players high fiving them and congratulating. That are the kind of moments that change people and make Basketball Without Borders the success it is.
That will likely be the moment that stays with Vucevic long after he leaves South Africa.