The

2021 BAL season The 2021 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 1, was the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Established as a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA, the BAL is the highest tier continental leag ...

was the 1st season for the

Rivers Hoopers Rivers Hoopers is a Nigerian basketball team based in Port Harcourt, Rivers. The team plays in the Nigerian Premier League. Established in 2009 as Royal Hoopers, the team has played in the Premier League since its inception. Hoopers have won the ...

of the

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League. The league is a joint eff ...

. The team began the season on May 16, 2021, in the season opener against Rwanda's

Patriots BBC Patriots Basketball Club, also known as simply Patriots, is a basketball club based in Kigali, Rwanda. Established in 2014, it plays its home games at Amahoro Indoor Stadium. The team is a four-time champion of the Rwanda Basketball League (RBL) ...

. Coming off a third

Nigerian Premier League The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) is the highest level of the Nigerian football league system, for the Nigerian club-football championships. The Nigerian league has suffered, like many others, from the financial impact and dwind ...

, the team of Ogoh Odaudu qualified for the inaugural BAL season. Ahead of the season, the Hoopers signed

Ben Uzoh Benjamin Chukwukelo Uzoh (born March 18, 1988) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who plays for Marinos of the Venezuelan SuperLiga. He also plays internationally for . Standing at , Uzoh has played in the NBA for the New Jer ...

, along with the American duo Chris Daniels and Taren Sullivan. They also signed ex- NBA champion

Festus Ezeli Ifeanyi Festus Ezeli-Ndulue (born October 21, 1989) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player. He previously played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Vanderbilt before being s ...

. However, Ezeli got injured and had to miss the season. He was later replaced by

Robinson Opong Robinson Odoch Opong (born 10 May 1989) is a Ugandan professional basketball player who last played for Rivers Hoopers of the Nigerian Premier League (NPL) and the Basketball Africa League (BAL). He also plays for the Uganda national basketball ...

Roster

Team

Additions

Regular season

, - style="background:#fcc;" , 1 , 19 May , Patriots
L 83–60
, Taren Sullivan (15) , Victor Koko (5) ,

(4) ,

Kigali Arena BK Arena (formerly known as Kigali Arena until 2022) is an multi-purpose indoor arena in Kigali, Rwanda, used mostly for basketball and volleyball matches. Built and finished in 2019, it hosts sporting events and concerts. It is the biggest ind ...

2,000 , 0–1 , - style="background:#fcc;" , 2 , 20 May , US Monastir
L 70–99
, Chris Daniels (25) , Chris Daniels (11) ,

(8) ,

412 , 0–2 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 3 , May 19 , GNBC , W 69–80 , Taren Sullivan (19) , Victor Koko (9) , Three players (3) ,

TBD , 1–2

Statistics

''Source'':

References

{{2021 BAL season by team Rivers Hoopers