The NBA has officially shuttered its elite training academy in Senegal, marking the end of a facility that spent less than a decade preparing promising African prospects for professional basketball opportunities abroad. The move, which follows similar closures of league-run academies in Mexico and Australia, represents a significant shift in the organization’s global development strategy.
Former staff members have voiced strong criticism regarding the decision, describing it as a detrimental blow to young athletes across the continent. Michel Chikwanine, the academy’s former performance and lifestyle adviser, noted that the news immediately demoralized the students. “From the moment we told them, their confidence waned, their confidence dropped,” Chikwanine said. He argued that the closure will restrict access for players from challenging backgrounds who rely on specialized local support, fueling local perceptions that foreign entities prioritize an “extraction mindset” over genuine community investment.
Michael Abbott, who served as the academy’s head of academic planning, echoed these concerns, suggesting the league’s focus leaned more toward a business model than the personal development of the students. “They weren’t invested in them as kids as much as they were invested in the business model,” Abbott stated. Since the program launched in 2018, it has trained approximately 110 students, helping them transition into U.S. universities and professional ranks.
The facility’s success stories include Cameroonian graduate Ulrich Kamka Chomche, who became the first player to be drafted directly from the academy into the NBA in 2024, joining the Toronto Raptors. Another notable alum, South Sudanese prospect Khaman Maluach, currently plays for the Phoenix Suns. Despite these milestones, the league will now channel its international youth training through a centralized global academy opening in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The NBA maintains that centralizing operations will provide young athletes with broader exposure to scouts and professional coaches from around the world. Denying that the closure limits prospects, the league emphasized that its commitment to Africa remains intact through other initiatives. Troy Justice, the NBA’s senior vice president, stated that the organization remains proud of the academy’s impact and highlighted the continued operation of the Basketball Africa League and the Basketball Without Borders program. The NBA added that it is continuing to invest in African talent through other programmes and closing the academy does not signal a diminished commitment to the continent, in its statement. Which has concluded six seasons, and Basketball Without Borders, which organises elite training camps for young people worldwide, including in Africa, it cited examples such as the creation of a Basketball Africa League.
As operations transition, African prospects will now be required to compete on a global stage for roster spots at the new Abu Dhabi hub. Critics, however, remain skeptical of the shift, pointing to the underlying mistrust created when large institutions withdraw physical infrastructure from the continent after years of touting their presence as a commitment to local talent development.
