Samkelo Cele, a guard for the Cape Town Tigers basketball team, will spend the next few months playing in the NBA Summer League with the New York Knicks.
Also read: Cape Town’s Tigers qualify for the illustrious ‘Basketball Africa League’
After impressing with the Cape Town Tigers in Basketball Africa League (BAL), Cele will get the chance to make his ambitions come true by participating in a tryout with an NBA team.
And when asked about the ‘unbelievable’ moment he received the call, Cele stated it’s what he’s been playing for since joining the BAL.
‘I had just got back from a workout. I got the call saying that I had been invited to the Summer League by the Knicks. It was surreal,’ the 26-year-old Cele told ESPN on Tuesday.
‘I couldn’t believe it, even though it was something I had wanted and hoped for because opportunities have been spoken about since last year’s BAL.’
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Cele had many admirers at the BAL. One of them was retired NBA legend Dwayne Wade, who routinely watched the team to keep an eye on his son, Zaire.
According to ESPN, Wayde was impressed with Cele and gave him some encouraging words of advise.
Cele began his basketball career at Durban High School and later attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, where he spent two years.
He graduated from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 2022 and was picked up by the Cape Town Tigers for the 2023 season.
If Cele impresses the Knicks enough during the Summer League to earn a roster slot, he will be the first South African to play in the NBA.
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Picture: Jason Nomoa / X