With an alert gait, as in the days when he was cleaning up under the paint on NBA floors, his height (2m11) is certainly frightening, but Ian Mahinmi quickly reassures you with his legendary smile. Relaxed and easy to talk to, there's never a dull moment with the former Washington Wizards star. He's a real "open mind" and never shies away from discussion. A cross-disciplinary mind, you might say.
Sport News Africa caught up with the Ambassador of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) at a local hotel in Abidjan. Ian Mahinmi talks about the project, future projects, the progress of local clubs, coach training and the difficulties faced by African teams in reaching the Round of 16 at the World Cup.
Sport News Africa: Ian, you're currently in Côte d'Ivoire. And when we talk about this country right now, we inevitably have the CAN in mind. You're a former NBA star who finds himself at the heart of the round ball. Coincidence or not (editor's note: the interview was conducted on the eve of the semi-final between Côte d'Ivoire and RDCongo)?
Ian Mahinmi: It's a coincidence. And for the record, I came to the draw two months ago in Abidjan. But an African Cup of Nations is a major sporting event, not just a soccer event. Just because I'm a basketball player doesn't mean I'm not interested in these kinds of events. From an organizational point of view, from a sporting point of view, I'm interested in how to experience all these emotions, because that's important.
Do you have a particular favorite among the 24 teams who have qualified for AFCON 2023?
Ian Mahinmi: In my eyes, there's one team that has all the qualities needed to win this kind of competition. And that's Côte d'Ivoire. As an athlete, it's not always a question of talent, but rather of momentum. And Côte d'Ivoire has experienced everything in a short period of time in terms of emotions. That allows you to build up experience and, above all, confidence. And for me, there is no team among the four semi-finalists that is better equipped than Côte d'Ivoire to win this trophy.
You're a BAL ambassador and you're preparing a major event in Abidjan. What exactly is it?
Ian Mahinmi: Every time I come to Abidjan, I try to stop by FIBA headquarters. It's an important step for anyone involved in the basketball ecosystem.So I'm here to work with resource people on the development of African basketball. What's more, we're on the threshold of the 4th season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). This season will mark the 4th edition of the BAL, and in your opinion, what are the main areas in which you have made progress in the competition as ambassador and observer?
Ian Mahinmi: For us, the big innovation in this 4th season is the addition of a conference called Kalahari (South Africa). This will increase the number of matches. We're now going from around thirty to forty matches. We'll also be putting the spotlight on the whole South African region.
Aren't you worried that the BAL will bury the Afrobasket, as many orange ball observers think?
Ian Mahinmi: You mustn't look at it that way. The BAL wants to better structure African basketball.We all need to rally behind the BAL.There's no competition between the BAL and the Afrobasket.We're here to build African basketball and its industry. The aim is to stimulate excellence so that we have good players, good coaches, good journalists and good content creators. And these are BAL's aspirations.
"BAL wants to better structure African basketball.We all need to rally behind it."
It's fair to say that the teams taking part in the BAL have more bottle than before...Ian Mahinmi: Of course. You have to think of the BAL as the top of the pyramid. The BAL must inspire not only the clubs, but also the governments. And also all the authorities and private individuals who want to push the sports industry. When the home team comes back from the BAL, all the clubs in the league also want to experience something like it. What's more, when we see what this competition brings to the Rwandan economy, it gives other heads of state ideas: why not let us host the BAL too? And that's exactly what happened in South Africa this year.
Are the basketball clinics that are often organized also one of BAL's policies?
Ian Mahinmi: It's one of the missions of BAL and NBA Africa in general. We have BAL forward, BAL advances. These are different initiatives designed to stimulate basketball in different sectors.
In the future, what areas do you plan to focus on?
Ian Mahinmi: We're a fairly young league. We already have a lot of initiatives.We want to give more arguments to coaches, referees, content creators and marketers through a program called FUTURE PROS. But that's not all. This year, there's also the YOUNG PROS program, for which I'm the ambassador.
"We want to give more arguments to coaches, referees, content creators and marketers through a program called FUTURE PROS".
Are you also thinking about the future of coaches, since you can't have basketball without coaches?
Ian Mahinmi: I agree.But it's worth noting that since BAL season 1, we've been running coaching clinics. We bring in NBA coaches who explain their philosophy in front of a hundred coaches.And it's not a one-off thing. Throughout the year, clinics are organized face-to-face or online.
How do you see African basketball, which is struggling to get beyond the round of 8 at the World Cup? What are the continent's selections lacking?
Ian Mahinmi: He lacks a bit of experience. Last year (World Cup 2023) was revealing. We had a World Championship where Team USA wasn't even on the podium.Germany, Serbia and Canada are ahead of the Americans. Which is to say that basketball has now become global. And in this globalization, Africa is on the move.Countries like South Sudan have qualified for the World Cup and the Olympic Games.Countries like Cape Verde are winning World Cup matches. Côte d'Ivoire and Angola are also winning matches. This means there's a great dynamic in African basketball. One thing to note about the Africans who play in the NBA is that there are a lot of pivots...
Ian Mahinmi: I think for a long time, NBA scouts looked at Africa for its athletic potential. And as Masai Ujiri (editor's note: general manager of the Raptors) says, we have African gloves. At one point, they were looking for size and athletic ability. But now, things have changed.Let me give you an example.Last year, I was in South Africa for the BWB (Basketball Without Borders), and we had more wing players than inside players. Now we have point guards who have nothing to envy the point guards we see in Europe or elsewhere. Because they now have ball handling, they have shooting. We've broken down those barriers.
