Africa steps to the fore as NBA goes global

“The NBA is a very competitive league. The one thing that moves the NBA to adapt is (teams) getting their ass kicked. The second somebody beats you, you study them, you figure out how they beat you and you adapt. It’s a copycat league,” says Peter Engelbrecht, the head global scout of the Toronto Raptors. 

He is one of those South Africans very few of his countrymen have heard of, but who has “made it” in one of the fiercest professional sporting environments in the world. 

The 46-year-old Engelbrecht was a member of the SA Commonwealth Games basketball team in 2006 which finished seventh in an eight-team tournament. 

His love for the sport meant he took on any tasks that became available, and that included volunteering to assist with the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) camps which the NBA started in Johannesburg in 2003. 

Connections he made there — particularly with president of the Raptors Masai Ujiri — proved life-changing. Engelbrecht now oversees the franchise’s global scouting unit, where he provides a unique perspective on how the NBA has adapted from being a purely American league, to one that is increasingly branching out to the rest of the world.

Africa is at the forefront of that growth.

“When the Raptors won the NBA championship in 2019 (beating Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in the finals) I’ll never forget being on the court, and there were 20 of us, guys from the DRC, Nigeria, Eswatini, South Africa...” said Engelbrecht.

“We were everywhere, not just in the players’ group but in every part of the organisation; coaches, medical staff and in the administration. Somebody sees you on the stage celebrating a championship, and it wakes them up.”

The point Engelbrecht wants to drive home is that while the dream for all of the 80 participants at this year’s BWB camp, which ends tomorrow, is to one day earn an NBA or Women’s NBA contract, there are also a variety of paths in the game.

Engelbrecht noticed a change in how African players were viewed compared to just 15 years ago. “It used to be ‘bigs’ who could run and block shots — then it was forwards, who can guard multiple positions, who are athletic and can slash to the basket and now, fast forward, we have guards.

This is a world game and the continent of Africa has really contributed to that

—  Dwane Casey

“We are going to have a guard drafted into the NBA who is born and raised on the African continent — that says a lot. Because it means you are not only coming here for the physicality — the size — but for the skill set, the IQ, the game management ... that’s a game changer.”

Dwane Casey, until recently  the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, agrees. “From the early 2000s to where they are now, it’s like aeons of difference,” he said.

“The development, the coaching, the facilities,  have really improved so much and it has really given these young folks an opportunity.”

Increasingly, private schools in South Africa are picking up the sport, and junior teams running four to five deep across age categories are becoming the norm in the country’s top sports institutions.

“This is a world game and the continent of Africa has really contributed to that,” said Casey. “It’s only going to get better because there is now a physical example of Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam, Bismack Biyombo, who came from this (BWB) camp to become stars in the league.”

Which means that as a scout, Engelbrecht’s eyes and ears are wide open to what is happening. “There is no false hustle,” he said.

“I’m not here ticking a box, because I’ve got to be here, we think (being here) gives us a competitive advantage.”