Former NBA Star, Obinna Ekezie, has said the National Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress, will be the ultimate losers in the protracted Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) unless the Federal Government steps in to resolve the issues.
Ekezie, who is also the CEO of Organised Basketball Network Academy (OBN), said Nigeria’s quest to excel at the 2022 FIBA Women Cup, held in Australia from September 22 to 0ctober 1, could also be scuttled by the crisis.
Speaking on the poor state of Nigerian basketball, Ekezie said D’Tigress need total support and encouragement from all stakeholders to prepare adequately for the Cup, adding that excelling in a competition as big as the Cup requires much more than assembling talented players.
He called on the warring parties and other stakeholders to drop their ego and help salvage what remains of the country’s basketball.
“Looking at D’Tigress’ participation at the Cup, I think the girls will not have a good tournament unless they get the needed support to prepare before the championship proper.
“My worry is that the NBBF is not working as one, which has affected their performance in recent times. You can see the way they struggled to qualify for the Cup because of inadequate preparations. I thank God they qualified.
“However, if the ministry does not fix the NBBF problem as soon as possible, D’Tigress will be bogged by lack of support and poor preparation for the Cup.
“Their coach is lamenting over certain issues that have remained unresolved. That is why I am calling on the ministry to act fast while appealing to basketball stakeholders to unite to grow the game,” he said.
Ekezie, whose academy has helped some young Africans to secure admission into American universities, revealed, “My mission is to discover youths from the grassroots and build them to become stars.
“I am concentrating on the grassroots now, which is discovering talents through OBN Academy.”
D’Tigress qualified for the Cup after beating Mali in their final game of the FIBA qualifying series in Serbia.
