Nigerian NBA boss finding Africa’s basketball stars

Denver, Colorado (CNN) — Soccer may be the king of sports in Africa, but one man is on a mission to change that by uncovering the continent’s rising basketball stars.

Masai Ujiri is the general manager for the Denver Nuggets and the first African to take charge of an American major league sports team.

The Nigerian, himself a former professional basketball player outside the NBA, took over at the Nuggets in 2010 but has been working to develop the game across Africa for just short of a decade.

“I don’t just want to be the first African GM in American sports — I want to win. I want to make an impact in Africa (and) grow the game,” he says.

Ujiri is a camp director with Basketball without Borders — a community outreach program run by the NBA which sees talented youngsters around the world receive coaching from professional players.

He is also the founder of the Giants of Africa Foundation, a basketball camp that aims to give talented young African players a solid education and the skills to compete at an international sporting level. Read More