Why South Africa is so bad at basketball.
So I did a topic on why South Africa is doing badly at soccer & think I should do something on South African basketball & it's dismall state.
South Africa has a basketball culture. As a KZN boy, one of the stronger basketball provinces in South Africa, I know that KZN basketball has it's scenes & has some talent. In fact, KZN is only second to Gauteng simply because Gauteng has more resources but when it comes to raw talent, KZN has tons of it.
In South Africa, we've exported some of our talented players such as Tsakane Ngobeni who was such a great talent for Hamilton College in the USA that they retired his number & Thabo Sithole who went to Euroleague basketball club Zalgaris Kaunas. But none of these players have lead South Africa to any sort of glory except in minor events such as the BRICS Games. South Africa's BNL (Basketball National League) doesn't get as much attention as most basketball players in it probably would like. I've seen some BNL basketball, yes some of the guys are ok but it's nowhere near Euroleague or NBA level. Everytime we play against African opposition, we're almost certain to be given a thrashing.
So what is the real problem? I think basketball in South Africa is still seen as some cult rather than an actual sport like soccer or rugby, there's always almost a certain expectation of the character of someone who plays basketball in South Africa. South African basketball players in general are known as romantic types & dreamers, there is no real steel or grit about them like the Bogdan Bogdanovics, Luka Doncics, Shane Larkins, Hakeem Olajuwons & Kareem Abdul-Jabars of the basketball world. One would even go as far as saying basketball in South Africa is a game of the priviledged & this tag won't change anytime soon as long as it is not introduced to common people in townships or suburbs. Our focus on international basketball & other land's take on the game of basketball is diverting us from focusing on our basketball culture. Yes, the US's NBA is probably the best league in the world & where you'll watch the best basketball besides the Euroleague, FIBA World Cup & Olympic basketball but Africa has some great players as well. We could learn from Angola who were recently second in the FIBA Africa rankings. The Angolan league is said to have decently paid players which is another problem in South Africa's basketball league where players complain of not being paid enough. But then again, they could just get a second job if they are really passionate about being professional players within the borders of South Africa.
I think the lack of support basketball gets in South Africa also exposes an underlying problem in South Africa as a whole, we lack faith in our own people. When netball gets more support with probably more or less the same following basketball has, this sport of basketball will forever remain in the shadows in South Africa.
South Africa has a basketball culture. As a KZN boy, one of the stronger basketball provinces in South Africa, I know that KZN basketball has it's scenes & has some talent. In fact, KZN is only second to Gauteng simply because Gauteng has more resources but when it comes to raw talent, KZN has tons of it.
In South Africa, we've exported some of our talented players such as Tsakane Ngobeni who was such a great talent for Hamilton College in the USA that they retired his number & Thabo Sithole who went to Euroleague basketball club Zalgaris Kaunas. But none of these players have lead South Africa to any sort of glory except in minor events such as the BRICS Games. South Africa's BNL (Basketball National League) doesn't get as much attention as most basketball players in it probably would like. I've seen some BNL basketball, yes some of the guys are ok but it's nowhere near Euroleague or NBA level. Everytime we play against African opposition, we're almost certain to be given a thrashing.
So what is the real problem? I think basketball in South Africa is still seen as some cult rather than an actual sport like soccer or rugby, there's always almost a certain expectation of the character of someone who plays basketball in South Africa. South African basketball players in general are known as romantic types & dreamers, there is no real steel or grit about them like the Bogdan Bogdanovics, Luka Doncics, Shane Larkins, Hakeem Olajuwons & Kareem Abdul-Jabars of the basketball world. One would even go as far as saying basketball in South Africa is a game of the priviledged & this tag won't change anytime soon as long as it is not introduced to common people in townships or suburbs. Our focus on international basketball & other land's take on the game of basketball is diverting us from focusing on our basketball culture. Yes, the US's NBA is probably the best league in the world & where you'll watch the best basketball besides the Euroleague, FIBA World Cup & Olympic basketball but Africa has some great players as well. We could learn from Angola who were recently second in the FIBA Africa rankings. The Angolan league is said to have decently paid players which is another problem in South Africa's basketball league where players complain of not being paid enough. But then again, they could just get a second job if they are really passionate about being professional players within the borders of South Africa.
I think the lack of support basketball gets in South Africa also exposes an underlying problem in South Africa as a whole, we lack faith in our own people. When netball gets more support with probably more or less the same following basketball has, this sport of basketball will forever remain in the shadows in South Africa.
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