2021 BAL season

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]

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

Main article: 2020 BAL 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

Kigali

Cairo

Luanda

Dakar

Lagos

Monastir

Salé

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]

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.

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	US Monastir	3	3	0	303	211	+92	6	Advance to playoffs		—	—	91–75	—
2	Patriots (H)	3	2	1	236	223	+13	5			—	—	83–60	78–72
3	Rivers Hoopers	3	1	2	210	251	−41	4			70–99	—	—	—
4	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	Petro de Luanda	3	3	0	247	208	+39	6	Advance to playoffs		—	97–78	—	84–66
2	AS Salé	3	2	1	253	260	−7	5			—	—	87–84	88–79
3	FAP	3	1	2	235	218	+17	4			64–66	—	—	87–65
4	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	Zamalek	3	3	0	254	181	+73	6	Advance to playoffs		—	71–55	—	97–64
2	Ferroviário de Maputo	3	2	1	229	218	+11	5			—	—	88–74	—
3	AS Douanes	3	1	2	230	250	−20	4			62–86	—	—	94–76
4	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	FAP	3	1	2	235	218	+17	4	Advance to playoffs
2	C	AS Douanes	3	1	2	230	250	−20	4
3	A	Rivers Hoopers	3	1	2	210	251	−41	4

Source: BAL

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

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
	27 May
	1 US Monastir	86
					29 May
	8 AS Douanes	62
					1 US Monastir	87
	27 May
					4 Patriots	46
	4 Patriots	73
									30 May
	5 Ferroviário de Maputo	71
									1 US Monastir	63
	26 May
									2 Zamalek	76
	2 Zamalek	82
					29 May
	7 FAP	53
					2 Zamalek	89
	26 May
					3 Petro de Luanda	71			Third place game
	3 Petro de Luanda	79
									30 May
	6 AS Salé	72
									4 Patriots	68
									3 Petro de Luanda	97

• Most Valuable Player: Walter Hodge (Zamalek)[45]
• Defensive Player of the Year: Anas Mahmoud (Zamalek)[45]
• Sportsmanship Award: Makrem Ben Romdhane (US Monastir)[46]
• Ubuntu Award: Hicham Benayad-Cherif (GS Pétroliers)[47]
• Scoring Champion: Terrell Stoglin (AS Salé)
• All-BAL First Team:[48]
  • Omar Abada (US Monastir)
  • Walter Hodge (Zamalek)
  • Wael Arakji (US Monastir)
  • Makrem Ben Romdhane (US Monastir)
  • Anas Mahmoud (Zamalek)

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

Individual statistic leaders Category Player Team(s) Statistic Points per game Terrell Stoglin AS Salé 30.8 Rebounds per game Ibrahima Thomas AS Police 12.0 Assists per game Myck Kabongo Ferroviário de Maputo 6.8 Steals per game Bara Diop AS Douanes 2.5 Blocks per game Anas Mahmoud Zamalek 3.2 Turnovers per game Demarcus Holland Ferroviário de Maputo 4.3 Minutes per game 36.2 FG% Mohab Yasser Zamalek 69.7% 3P% Mouloukou Diabate Zamalek 59.1% FT% Kenny Gasana Patriots 94.1%

Individual game highs Category Player Team Statistic Points Terrell Stoglin AS Salé 40 Rebounds Jone Pedro Petro de Luanda 17 Ibrahima Thomas AS Police Assists Myck Kabongo Ferroviário de Maptuo 12 Steals Mokhtar Ghyaza US Monastir 5 Blocks Anas Mahmoud Zamalek 5 Three pointers Radhouane Slimane US Monastir 6 Aristide Mugabe Patriots

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]