Basketball Within Borders: Bidding their Time…

It’s barely 7 a.m, and despite the wet floor as a result of rainfall the previous night, the boys are already on the basketball court knocking down shots. One of the boys, Emeka Ezechi, a 6’8 forward, is taking his friends through different drills aimed at improving their shooting touch from different spots on the floor. While these boys are waiting to be discovered by scouts in anticipation of being recruited by a professional team or college in either Europe or the United States, they spend several hours daily honing their skills on the basketball court. The Lagos State Vocational and Rehabilitation Home (LSVRH), Isheri, Lagos State is a basketball haven for these boys. The Rehabilitation Home, commonly referred to as “Border”, is a government-owned facility for the rehabilitation of troubled youths, but it is also open to members of the public which is a reason these boys use the basketball court there to improve their skills. It has other sports facilities such as a soccer pitch and an abandoned Olympic-sized swimming pool. Due to the dearth of standard recreational centres around the Ojodu axis, the Lagos State Government provides ample opportunity for the use of the LSVRH facility by youths in the area. It is on this basketball court that the likes of Emeka Ezechi, Akinkunle Akindemowo, Lateef Balogun, and about a score of other boys hone their skills with dreams of playing in the most prestigious basketball league in the world, the National Basketball Association, NBA.

Akinkunle, a 6’6 198-pound high-flying swingman, has been to several basketball camps around Nigeria. Though he failed to make the final cut at the hoops camp organised by U.S-based Nigerian basketball player, Ejike Ugboaja, last July, he remains confident of his potential.

A few hours later, several other boys arrive at the basketball court. Soon, they huddle at the center court where Babatunde Dada, a 5’11 shooting guard, organizes players into two different teams. They are about to play a game where the first team to score 100 points wins the game. Babatunde volunteers to start as an umpire and enter the game as substitute during halftime. A jump-ball is tossed mid-court and Isiaka Saliu, a 5’11 point guard for the Lagos State team at the last National Sports Festival, picks up the tipped ball and dribbles down towards his opponents’ basket. It’s the first possession of the game and he decides to exploit an opening in the opponents’ defense by penetrating into the free-throw lane. A forward on the opposing team reacts immediately and prepares to block the shot. Isiaka, noted for his quickness and passing prowess, anticipates the block and swings a pass outside to the lanky 6’6 Lateef Balogun, a forward, who was wide open for a three point shot. Balogun dithers on his chance at a 3 point and drives into the post from the baseline instead, and as Ezeichi reacts to defend him in the post area, he releases a shot using the backboard. The ball ricocheted off the board, clanged on the rim and was immediately rebounded by the other team: a missed attempt at a two-point field goal. Balogun, known as “Balo” among his peers, rarely misses from that range. The team that has just gained possession from the rebound now launches a fast-break at the other half of the court. Everyone races down the court; the offensive team tries to exploit the possession with a transition offense from Chukwuma Udokporo, aptly nicknamed “Speedy” due to his lightning-quick speed when handling the ball. Someone from the opposing team tries to slow him down mid-court but he blows by with a deft crossover. Akinkunle, his teammate in this game, has positioned himself around the baseline and signals at Speedy for an alley-oop pass – reminiscent of a Chris Paul lob to Blake Griffin – and throws it down with authority.

The game ends with one side trumping the other by two points (100 – 98). The boys pack their bags and head home; though a few stay behind to put in more practice time. Naturally, the odds are stacked against most of these boys due to the fact that they picked up basketball at a later stage than their counterparts in a country like the United States, Italy, or France. Bearing this factor in mind, they channel their energies passionately at training sessions so as to compensate for their late bloom. Many of them blossomed without the mentoring of an experienced coach; however, they continue grinding out on the playground from sun up to sun down in hopes that, someday, someone will notice. After all, Hakeem Olajuwon, legendary basketball center for the Houston Rockets, didn’t play basketball until his late teens, but went on to be selected before Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft.