The maiden season of the African Basketball League (ABL), launched with fanfare Wednesday night in Lagos, will kick off January 31, 2016 and will run for three months, the organisers have said. ABL is being promoted by African Sports Entertainment in partnership with Wakanow.com.

Teams that will participate in the ABL season one include Lagos Islanders, Stallions, Lagos City Chiefs and other Nigerian clubs in the domestic league. Clubs from elsewhere in Africa expected to participate are the Dakar Rapids from Senegal, Abidjan Ramblers from Cote d’Ivoire, and Izobe Basketball Club from Gabon.

The launch, held at the Lagos Motor Boat Club, Ikoyi, was graced by a quality crowd that included some Nigerian basketball legends, among them Obinna Ekezie, MD/CEO of Wakanow.com, who played professional basketball in the NBA (USA) for Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls.

Speaing at the launch, ABL Managing Director/CEO Ugo Udezue said: “ABL is not for profit. It is to create entertainment and provide opportunities.” He further said that the league would go past Nigeria, round about Africa, so that fans could have a good time to watch any team of their choice.

Ekezie, on his part, remarked that ABL would create many job opportunities. He spoke of his passion for the game, saying in an interview: “Basketball is life. My high school and university was basketball. I played basketball for eight years.”

Ekezie expressed optimism that ABL would produce new talents that would make Nigeria and Africa proud in international competitions. “We believe that the talents that will come out of the ABL will make Nigeria and Africa proud,” he stated, assuring that basketball players would earn more than they are earning now in the ABL.

•Sourced from DailySportsng.com