African Representation at NBA 2k26 Summer League 2025

The NBA 2K26 Summer League 2025 will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from July 10-20 and once again feature a strong presence of African players, coaches and referees, including:

• Six former NBA Academy Africa players
• 23 coaches from 15 African countries as part of the Africa Coaches Program
• Three referees from the 2025 Basketball Africa League (BAL) season

The participation of these players, coaches and referees is part of NBA Africa and the BAL’s commitment to developing talent and expertise throughout the African basketball ecosystem and contributing to the continued growth of the game across the continent.

Below are storylines about the African players, coaches, and referees participating in this year’s Summer League, which will air live in Africa on NBA League Pass, the league’s premium live game subscriptions service available via the NBA App:

PLAYERS

• Six former NBA Academy Africa players have joined Summer League rosters:
  • Ibou Badji (Denver Nuggets; Senegal)
  • Jean-Jacques Boissy (Milwaukee Bucks; Senegal)
  • Ulrich Chomche (Toronto Raptors; Cameroon), who was selected 57^th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft.
  • Nelly Joseph Junior (Atlanta Hawks; Nigeria)
  • Khaman Maluach (Phoenix Suns; South Sudan; ties to Uganda), who was selected 10^th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, becoming the highest-drafted former NBA Academy Africa and Basketball Africa League (BAL) player ever.
  • Babacar Sané (Minnesota Timberwolves; Senegal)
• Three players who participated in the 2025 BAL season will compete in Summer League:
  • Boissy – 2025 BAL champion and MVP with Alahli Tripoli (Libya), Boissy averaged 18.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 1.9 assists per game.
  • Aliou Diarra (Mali; Dallas Mavericks) – Two-time Dikembe Mutombo BAL Defensive Player of the Year (2023 and 2025) and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA G League International Draft, Diarra will join the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft – Cooper Flagg – on the Mavericks’ Summer League roster.
  • Sané – 2025 All-BAL Second Team as a member of US Monastir (Tunisia).

COACHES:

• Twenty-three coaches from 15 African countries have been selected to participate in Summer League as part of the Africa Coaches Program, which is part of NBA Africa and the BAL’s ongoing commitment to developing coaching talent across the continent.  The 23 coaches (full list below) include:
  • Four who previously played in the BAL: two-time BAL champion with Zamalek (2021) and US Monastir (2022) Solo Diabate (Bucks; Côte d’Ivoire), 2024 BAL champion with Petro de Luanda Carlos Morais (New York Knicks; Angola), as well as Marawan Sarhan (Miami Heat; Egypt) and Mostafa Kejo (Los Angeles Lakers; Egypt), both of whom competed for Al Ahly (Egypt) during the 2024 BAL season.
  • Two female coaches: Fenan Atobrhan (Eritrea; Houston Rockets) and Ruth Bibeyi (Gabon; Indiana Pacers).  Atobrhan served as an assistant coach with APR during the 2025 BAL season when the team finished third, its best-ever finish in the BAL.  Bibeyi served as head coach of Espoir Basket Club (Gabon) during the 2023 Road to the BAL qualifying tournament, was part of the coaching staff at the 2025 BAL Combine, and has served as a mentor as part of BAL4HER, the league’s platform for advancing gender equality in the African sports ecosystem.

REFEREES

• Three referees who have officiated in the BAL will serve as Summer League officials: Claudio Eiuba (Angola), Vitalis Gode (Kenya) and Erick Otieno (Kenya).

Please see below for the complete list of African coaches participating in the NBA 2K26 Summer League 2025 as part of the Africa Coaches Program:

Per Kind Favour of APO

Africa Fact: In the mid-nineteenth century, William Clarke, an English visitor to Nigeria, remarked that: “As good an article of cloth can be woven by the Yoruba weavers as by any people . . . in durability, their cloths far excel the prints and home-spuns of Manchester.”