NBA Senior Director Manyo Plange upbeat about progress of Ghana basketball

Senior Director of NBA Africa, John Manyo Plange, feels the visit of American NBA super star Chris Bosh to Ghana will help enhance the development and promotional drive of the sport in the country.

Bosh, who plays for Miami Heat, will spend four amazing days in Ghana starting Thursday July 10 where he will train and interact with young promising players in the country during the second edition of the Sprite Ball Clinic.

The visit of the 30-year-old NBA star comes on the heels of a similar visit from Luo Deng and Pops Mensah Bonsu last year.

NBA Africa has played a tremendous role in helping to shape the development and image of the game and the continent’s Senior Director, John Manyo Plange is confident Ghana will benefit immensely from the famous visit.

“We are committed to the development of the game of basketball across the African continent and would like to thank the Ghana Basketball Association, Coca-Cola and Rite Multimedia for hosting us,” he said on TV3’s Fast Break.

“There is tremendous potential for basketball development in Africa and we believe this holds true for great sporting nation like Ghana.

“Chris is a great role model for our youth and hopefully this visit will inspire the basketball community and young boys and girls to not only pursue excellence on a basketball court, but also, and perhaps most importantly in the classroom and in society.

“It is a dream for so many basketball fans in the country to actually have the opportunity to see NBA stars like Chris in Ghana and we salute the local organizing committee for a wonderful job done so far.

“NBA Africa is committed to development not only in terms of talents and infrastructure but also coaching, refereeing and other areas. Last year, we had a great time with Luo Deng and Pops Mensah Bonsu and hopefully this year will be more exciting.

The Ghana Basketball Association aims to encourage all stakeholders to work together to create a sustainable, fundamentally sound basketball curriculum and expand the existing infrastructure through building more courts around the country.

The Association also looks forward to engaging with the NBA, Ghanaian government and the private sector on court building projects as well as bringing more NBA players and grassroots programs to Ghana.