When Luc Richard Mbah a Moute meets Africa's top youth players in Johannesburg Wednesday, he'll understand their anxiety and their hopes. Just six years ago, Mbah a Moute was in their shoes.The Bucks forward is with an NBA contingent in South Africa this week as part of the Basketball Without Borders program. Cameroon native Mbah a Moute has joined Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki and others on the sojourn to lead a group of 60 top African youth players in five days of basketball clinics and life-skills seminars.
In the summer of 2003, a 17-year-old Mbah a Moute was one of those campers. He credits the program with helping him get to the NBA.
Mbah a Moute said while he had watched Michael Jordan rule basketball in the 1990s, the Africa 100 program (which became Basketball Without Borders) brought the NBA into his immediate consciousness.
"It meant so much to us, to see and touch NBA players," Mbah a Moute told FanHouse before departing for Johannesburg. Among the NBA players appearing at the 2003 camp were Senegal's DeSagana Diop, Cameroon's Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje and, of course, Congolese legend Dikembe Mutombo.
Though Mbah a Moute didn't play organized basketball until age 15, the sport was a part of his life from a young age. He'd get up early to watch Chicago Bulls games; like so many children of the '90s (myself included), Luc was enamored with MJ. The soaring leaps, the smooth shot, the ferocious energy.
But the success of Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon made the NBA dreams of youngsters from all corners of Africa seem a bit more tangible. That's what Mbah a Moute hopes to offer in Johannesburg this week.
"I just want to bring hope, that if a kid like me can do it, so can they," he said.
Further east, some 48 youth players in Indonesia were recently given the same sort of pep talk, albeit from a non-native player. Indonesia has never produced an NBA player. But that didn't stop the players at the Indonesia Development Camp, put on by the DetEksi Basketball League and NBA Asia, from embracing Kings star Kevin Martin as one of their own.Martin arrived in Surabaya, Indonesia, in time for the championship game of the DBL, which is Indonesia's top student league. DBL commissioner Azrul Ananda said the 5,000 fans in attendance greeted Martin by chanting his name.
For his part, Martin returned the love. The King, who brought his 75-year-old grandmother Maxine on the trip, ended the development camp by donating his $15,000 NBA stipend back to the DBL to help pay for the students' trip to a competition in Perth, Australia.
These events may not register on fans' radars -- sure, we see the NBA Cares promos and we watch stars hand charities oversized checks during All-Star weekend. I'm sure most of us roll our eyes. "With all that money, you're supposed to give back."
But this outreach really does amazing things for kids all over the world. Ask Mbah a Moute. Ask the kids of the DBL.
