Enes Kanter: NBA star to visit Uganda

Jun 10, 2016

“It is important to get NBA players to talk to our young basketball players."

The president of national basketball body FUBA, Ambrose Tashobya, is excited about the visit NBA star Enes Kanter, saying they will take advantage of the visit to inspire their NBA Junior League players as well as show importance to their local activities.

"It is important to get NBA players to talk to our young basketball players," he said.

"It inspires them to focus on both academics and the game. Many times when young players just watch NBA players on TV, they think these are supermen. So interacting with them is a big motivation to the young players," said Tashobya.

NBA player Kanter is set to visit Uganda on invitation of Nile Dialogue Platform (NDP), a Turkish NGO based in Uganda.

A Turkish professional player, Kanter plays for Oklahoma City Thunder and is expected to jet in on June 21 to promote social cohesion as part of the NDP inter-faith dialogue featuring different religious leaders.

 

The 6ft 11inch player whose scoring prowess inspires admiration from many youths is willing to play a demonstration match and tour Kampala and Jinja as part of the mission in Uganda during the month of Islamic holy month of Ramadhan.

NDP chief executive officer Lokman Cinar confirmed the visit, saying it is part of their commitment to promote spirit of dialogue, love and respect to diversity among Ugandans.

Currently, FUBA has NBA-Africa officials in Kampala training youth coaches in preparation for the junior resumption on Saturday.   

The last time an NBA player was in Kampala was last year when South Sudanese born Miami Heat star Luol Deng visited in August 2015 to inspire young players to achieve their dreams in basketball.

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