2021 BAL season

The 2021 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 1, was the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Established as a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA, the BAL is the highest tier continental league of Africa, replacing the FIBA Africa Basketball League.[1] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BAL held its inaugural season one year later as planned, with the season beginning in 2021.[2][3] Initially the league planned to play in six venues in six countries; however, due to the pandemic the season was held in a bio-secure bubble in Kigali, Rwanda. The season began on 16 May 2021 and ended on 30 May 2021.[4]

2021 BAL season
The Kigali Arena in Kigali hosted the entire competition
LeagueBasketball Africa League
Season2021
Dates16 – 30 May 2021
Number of games26
Number of teams12
Regular season
Season MVPWalter Hodge
(Zamalek)
Finals
ChampionsEgypt Zamalek (1st title)
  Runners-upTunisia US Monastir
Third placeAngola Petro de Luanda
Fourth placeRwanda Patriots
Statistical leaders
Points Terrell Stoglin (AS Salé) 30.8
Rebounds Ibrahima Thomas (Police) 12.0
Assists Myck Kabongo (Ferroviário) 6.8
Records
Biggest home win47 points
GNBC 66–113 US Monastir
(12 May 2021)
Winning streak6 games
Zamalek
Highest attendance1,789
US Monastir 63–76 Zamalek
(30 May 2021)

The qualifying rounds for the season were held from 16 October to 21 December 2019, with national champion of each African country has the opportunity to qualify through the qualifying rounds. Meanwhile, six national champions directly qualified for the regular season to make a total of twelve teams in the main tournament.

Zamalek won the first-ever BAL championship after beating US Monastir in the finals and going undefeated over the season.[5]

Organisation

The plans to establish the BAL by FIBA and the NBA were first revealed in February 2019 during the 2019 NBA All-Star Game.[6]

In August 2019, the seven host cities for the BAL season were announced.[7] Additionally, it was revealed that the inaugural BAL Final Four would be played in the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall, later announced at the NBA All-Star 2020 Africa Luncheon in Chicago, that the season was planned to tip off on 13 March 2020.[8] On 20 February 2020, it was announced that the 12 teams were to be drawn in two conferences, named the Sahara and Nile Conferences.[9]

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 3 March 2020, the BAL announced it was postponing its inaugural season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] The decision was made following recommendations of the Senegalese government.

In November, the start of the inaugural season was delayed for a second time and the new season was moved to a later to be announced date in 2021.[11] In March it was announced the league would commence in May 2021. The complete event was re-scheduled to be held in the Kigali Arena and the regular season changed its format from two groups to three groups of four.[4] All twelve teams were hosted in a bio-secure bubble in which all players were regularly tested for COVID-19. All games were broadcast live by ESPN Africa.[12]

Qualification

The twelve teams for the inaugural BAL season had to qualify in their domestic competitions to be able to play in the league, similar to other FIBA-organised competitions. Six teams qualified directly as their national champions while an additional six teams qualified through regional qualifying tournaments.

Direct qualification

FIBA announced that the national champions of six member associations would be directly qualified for the regular season. These teams are from countries which are also hosts cities for the regular season, except for Final Four host Rwanda.[7] On 23 October 2019, AS Douanes won the Senegalese national championship, becoming the first club to qualify.[13]

Directly qualified teams
No. Country Team Notes
1  Angola Petro de Luanda Directly Qualified
2  Egypt Zamalek
3  Morocco AS Salé
No. Country Team Notes
4  Nigeria Rivers Hoopers Directly Qualified
5  Senegal AS Douanes
6  Tunisia US Monastir

Qualifying tournaments

Each of the FIBA Africa member associations was able to register one team from its country to participate in the qualifying tournaments. A total of 31 teams played in the first round, which was divided into six groups in six different host cities.[14] The qualification tournaments started on 16 October and will end 21 December 2019.

Teams and countries playing in the 2020 BAL Qualifying Tournaments
No. Country Team Notes
1  Algeria GS Pétroliers Qualified
2  Benin ASPAC
3  Botswana Dolphins
4  Burundi Dynamo
5  Cameroon FAP
Qualified
6  CAF Abeilles
Withdrew
7  Comoros Usoni
8  DR Congo ASB Mazembe
9  Ethiopia Hawassa City
10  Gabon Manga
11  Ghana Braves of Customs
12  Guinea SLAC
13  Ivory Coast ABC
14  Kenya KPA
15  Liberia NPA Pythons
16  Libya Al-Nasr Benghazi
No. Country Team Notes
17  Madagascar GNBC
Qualified
18  Malawi Brave Hearts
Withdrew
19  Mali AS Police
Qualified
20  Mozambique Ferroviário de Maputo
Qualified
21  Namibia Lions Club
22  Niger AS Nigelec
23  Rwanda Patriots
Qualified
24  Seychelles Beau Vallon Heat
25  South Africa Jozi Nuggets
26  South Sudan Cobra
27  Tanzania JKT
28  Uganda City Oilers
29  Zambia UNZA Pacers
30  Zimbabwe Mercenaries
31  Equatorial Guinea Virgen Maria de Africa

Teams

Qualified teams

Team Home city Qualified as Qualified on
Tunisia US MonastirMonastir, TunisiaWinners of the 2018–19 Championnat National A1 May 2019
Egypt ZamalekCairo, EgyptWinners of the 2018–19 Egyptian Super League4 May 2019
Angola Petro de LuandaLuanda, AngolaWinners of the 2018–19 Angolan Basketball League25 May 2019
Morocco AS SaléSalé, MoroccoWinners of the 2018–19 Division Excellence30 May 2019
Senegal AS DouanesDakar, SenegalWinners of the 2019 Nationale 1 season23 October 2019
Nigeria Rivers HoopersPort Harcourt, NigeriaWinners of the 2019 NBBF President Cup17 November 2019[15]
Algeria GS PétroliersAlgiers, AlgeriaWest Division winners30 November 2019[16]
Cameroon FAPYaoundé, CameroonWest Division runners-up30 November 2019[16]
Mali AS PoliceBamako, MaliWest Division third place1 December 2019[17]
Rwanda PatriotsKigali, RwandaEast Division winners21 December 2019
Madagascar GNBCAntsirabe, MadagascarEast Division runners-up21 December 2019[18]
Mozambique Ferroviário de MaputoMaputo, MozambiqueEast Division third place22 December 2019

Personnel and sponsorship

Team Head coach Team captain
AS Douanes Senegal Pabi Gueye[19] Senegal Alkaly Ndour
AS Salé Morocco Said El Bouzidi[20] Morocco Zakaria El Masbahi
AS Police Mali Babacar Kanouté[19] Mali Badra Samaké[21]
FAP Cameroon Lazare Adingono[22] Cameroon Ebaku Akumenzoh
Ferroviário de Maputo Mozambique Milagre Macome[19] Mozambique Custódio Muchate
GNBC Madagascar Lova Navalona Raharidera[19] Madagascar Francis Mory
GS Pétroliers Algeria Sofiane Boulahia[23] Algeria Mustapha Adrar
Patriots United States Alan Major[24] Rwanda Aristide Mugabe
Petro de Luanda Brazil José Neto[25] Angola Leonel Paulo
Rivers Hoopers Nigeria Ogoh Odaudu[19] Nigeria Belema Alamin
US Monastir Tunisia Mounir Ben Slimane Tunisia Radhouane Slimane
Zamalek Spain Augustí Julbe[22] Egypt Haytham Elsaharty

Foreign players

In line with league rules, each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players.

Team
Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4
AS Douanes United States Chris Cokley[26] Egypt Hassan Attia[26] Libya Mohamed Sadi[26]
AS Salé United States Ra'Shad James[27] United States Terrell Stoglin[28] Central African Republic Johndre Jefferson[27]
AS Police Senegal Ibrahima Thomas[27] Nigeria Jawachi Nzeakor[29] United States Mylo Mitchell[27]
FAP Niger Abdoulaye Harouna[30] United States Marcus Thomas[30] United States Matthew Hezekiah
Ferroviário de Maputo Ivory Coast Adjehi Baru[31] Spain Álvaro Calvo Masa[31] United States Demarcus Holland[31] Democratic Republic of the Congo Myck Kabongo
GNBC United States Cameron Ridley[32]
GS Pétroliers
Patriots United States Jermaine Cole[33] Kenya Bush Wamukota[34] United States Brandon Costner[33]
Petro de Luanda United Kingdom Ryan Richards[35] United States Antwan Scott[27]
Rivers Hoopers Uganda Robinson Opong[36] United States Chris Daniels[37] United States Taren Sullivan[37]
US Monastir South Sudan Ater Majok[22] Lebanon Wael Arakji[22] United States Chris Crawford[27]
Zamalek Nigeria Chinemelu Elonu[38] Nigeria Michael Fakuade[39] United States Virgin Islands Walter Hodge[22] Ivory Coast Mouloukou Diabate[40]


Venues

Location of venues of the 2020 BAL season.
Red: Sahara Conference; Yellow: Nile Conference; Grey: Playoffs & Finals.

On 1 August 2019, the NBA announced the seven host cities for the regular season.[7] Six cities in six countries would host the regular season games, with three assigned to each conference. The Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda was announced as venue for the inaugural Final Four. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, it was later decided that the entire event was to be played at the Kigali Arena.[4]

Proposed venues of the inaugural BAL season before the format change
Arena Capacity Location
Dakar Arena
15,000
Dakar, Senegal
Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex
16,500
Cairo, Egypt
Salle El Bouâzzaoui
2,000
Salé, Morocco
Kilamba Arena
12,270
Luanda, Angola
Kigali Arena (Final Four)
10,000
Kigali, Rwanda
National Stadium
3,000[41]
Lagos, Nigeria
Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall
4,075
Monastir, Tunisia

Schedule

Phase Round Draw date Games
Qualifying First round 9 October 2019 15 October – 3 November 2019
Elite 16 21 November 2019 26 November – 22 December 2019
Group phase 29 March 2021 16–24 May 2021
Playoffs Quarter-finals 26–27 May 2021
Semi-finals 29 May 2021
Final and third place 30 May 2021

Qualifying tournaments

The official reveal of the Basketball Africa League logo during the qualifiers in Kigali

In the qualifying rounds, 32 teams from 32 countries participated in the West and East Division. The first round began 15 October and ended 3 November 2019, with sixteen teams advancing to the second round. The second-round games began 26 November and will end 22 December 2019, with six teams qualifying for the regular season.

Rosters

Transactions

Group phase

BAL players wearing masks due to the measurements taken against COVID-19 at the tournament

The group phase began on 16 May 2021 and ended on 24 May 2021. Initially, it was planned that in the regular season, the twelve teams would play in two Conferences with six teams each. Each team would play five games, one against each opponent, inside its conference. The top three teams from each conference would advance to the Super 6.[42] The regular season would be played in six arenas divided over the African continent.[42]

The format was changed to a group phase as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was completely played at the Kigali Arena. In three groups of four each team plays the other one time and the first, second and best third-placed teams advance to the playoffs.[4]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification USM PAT RIV GNB
1 Tunisia US Monastir 3 3 0 303 211 +92 6 Advance to playoffs 91–75
2 Rwanda Patriots (H) 3 2 1 236 223 +13 5 83–60 78–72
3 Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 3 1 2 210 251 41 4 70–99
4 Madagascar GNBC 3 0 3 207 271 64 3 66–113 69–80
Source: BAL
(H) Hosts

Group B

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification PDL ASS FAP POL
1 Angola Petro de Luanda 3 3 0 247 208 +39 6 Advance to playoffs 97–78 84–66
2 Morocco AS Salé 3 2 1 253 260 7 5 87–84 88–79
3 Cameroon FAP 3 1 2 235 218 +17 4 64–66 87–65
4 Mali AS Police 3 0 3 210 259 49 3
Source: BAL

Group C

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification ZAM FVM ASD GSP
1 Egypt Zamalek 3 3 0 254 181 +73 6 Advance to playoffs 71–55 97–64
2 Mozambique Ferroviário de Maputo 3 2 1 229 218 +11 5 88–74
3 Senegal AS Douanes 3 1 2 230 250 20 4 62–86 94–76
4 Algeria GS Pétroliers 3 0 3 213 277 64 3 73–86
Source: BAL

Ranking of third-placed teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 B Cameroon FAP 3 1 2 235 218 +17 4 Advance to playoffs
2 C Senegal AS Douanes 3 1 2 230 250 20 4
3 A Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 3 1 2 210 251 41 4
Source: BAL

Playoffs

All eight qualified teams from the group stage were ranked and seeded to determine the match-ups. The play-offs games were played in a single-elimination format.[4][43] The playoffs began on 26 May and ended on 30 May 2021 with the 2021 BAL Finals.[44]

Bracket

 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
 
          
 
27 May
 
 
1
Tunisia US Monastir
86
 
29 May
 
8
Senegal AS Douanes
62
 
1
Tunisia US Monastir
87
 
27 May
 
4
Rwanda Patriots
46
 
4
Rwanda Patriots
73
 
30 May
 
5
Mozambique Ferroviário de Maputo
71
 
1
Tunisia US Monastir
63
 
26 May
 
2
Egypt Zamalek
76
 
2
Egypt Zamalek
82
 
29 May
 
7
Cameroon FAP
53
 
2
Egypt Zamalek
89
 
26 May
 
3
Angola Petro de Luanda
71 Third place game
 
3
Angola Petro de Luanda
79
 
30 May
 
6
Morocco AS Salé
72
 
4
Rwanda Patriots
68
 
 
3
Angola Petro de Luanda
97
 

Final standings

Position Team Record
1 Egypt Zamalek 6–0
2 Tunisia US Monastir 5–1
3 Angola Petro de Luanda 5–1
4 Rwanda Patriots 3–3
5 Mozambique Ferroviário de Maputo 2–2
6 Morocco AS Salé 2–2
7 Cameroon FAP 1–3
8 Senegal AS Douanes 1–3
9 Nigeria Rivers Hoopers 1–2
10 Mali AS Police 0–3
11 Algeria GS Pétroliers 0–3
12 Madagascar GNBC 0–3

Awards

Statistics

The following were the statistical leaders in 2021 BAL season.[49]

Team statistic leaders

CategoryTeamStatistic
Points per gameUS Monastir89.9
Rebounds per gameFAP42.0
Assists per gameUS Monastir24.4
Steals per game11.0
Blocks per gameRivers Hoopers5.3
Turnovers per gameGS Pétroliers22.0
Fouls per game25.7
FG%Zamalek49.9%
FT%Ferroviário de Maputo78.9%
3FG%US Monastir36.1%

Controversies

The BAL has faced criticism by The Guardian over its close ties with the Rwandan government in organising the league, using the league as a vehicle for sportswashing by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, pointing to ongoing repression and human rights abuses under his regime.[50]

On May 10, 2021, American rapper J. Cole signed a contract with the Rwanda-based Patriots.[51] In three games with the team, he scored five points, had three assists and five rebounds in 45 minutes of gameplay. Terrell Stoglin of AS Salé states about the signing: "For a guy who has so much money and has another career to just come here and average, like, one point a game and still get glorified is very disrespectful to the game. It's disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this."[52]

References

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