Veteran National Basketball Association (NBA) Coach, Dwane Casey has spoken highly of the Kenya basketball teams as he took us down memory lane when he worked with them in his visit to Nairobi in the 80s.
Casey, the 2011 NBA champion and 2018 NBA Coach of the Year, told Capital Sport in Johannesburg, South Africa during the 19th edition of the Basketball Without Borders (BWB), that Kenya has immense basketball talent and is pleased to have played a part in developing the game.
“I worked with the Kenya national basketball team in the late 80s when I was in Nairobi, the team has developed, but to be more successful, they need to learn the fundamental,” Casey, who managed the Toronto Raptures from 2011-2018, said.
He added, “a lot of great athletes in the world, continue working on the fundamental like passing, footwork… all those things that are boring, that are not fun are very essential to make one a great player. That is one thing that I kept emphasizing when I was there (Kenya) in the late 80s and 90s.”
Casey, who most recently served as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons before transitioning to a front office position with the team, says he is willing to come back to Kenya if invited to impact knowledge to the new generation of basketball players.
For Kenya to reach greater heights, Casey advised that infrastructure is key because it makes the players have passion and learn the game of basketball at a tender age.
“If I get an invitation to Kenya I will come, I truly enjoyed my time in Nairobi, that time they had an outdoor court and they didn’t have an indoor one. I then brought the entire team to the United States, so there was some great time working with the team,” the 66-year-old tactician, told Capital Sport.
“Infrastructure is very important, to have an indoor court is safe because I remember when I was in Nairobi, we used an outdoor court which was slippery and very prone to injury.”
Casey is very pleased with the budding basketball talent that is unearthed at the BWB, noting that this will help the game grow in the continent and see many African teams compete at the Olympic Games.
“We have had a great time with the BWB multiple times before, so I have seen guys grow from this camp to go ahead and become NBA and WNBA Most Valuable Players.”
“It’s the unbelievable talent here that will improve the growth of basketball and with the head of Basketball Africa League (Amadou Gallo Fall), Masai Ujiri, the vice president of Toronto raptures, basketball in the continent has grown and also the NBA.”
The BWB has produced some of the NBA stars like Joel Embiid, the Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers and Pascal Siakam another Cameroonian professional basketball player who features for the Toronto Raptors.
