NBA Born & Bred: New show highlights the exciting talent emerging from African region

“My dream is to go to the NBA; I want to be the next Egyptian to go to the NBA,” declares teenager Seif Hendawy as he slams a reverse dunk and then hangs loosely from the basketball rim, while pointing to the camera.

Those are the closing images of episode three of the NBA Africa original docuseries Born & Bred, which premiered on the NBA App last month.

The five-part series tells the stories of five current and former NBA Academy Africa prospects from Angola, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Sudan, showcasing the diverse basketball talent the continent continues to produce.

Available exclusively via NBA League Pass, the league’s premium live game subscription service, Born & Bred revisits these young players’ roots, speaking to their families, coaches and friends, to highlight their origin stories and the journeys that led them to the NBA Academy Africa in Saly, Senegal and beyond.

Alongside Hendawy, the docuseries also features Nigerian NBA Academy Africa graduate Reuben Chinyelu, a 19-year-old power forward from Lagos, who is entering his freshman season with Washington State University.

Episode two introduces us to Aginaldo Neto, a 17-year-old guard from Luanda, Angola; Khadim Rassoul Mboup, a 16-year-old forward from Senegal, is the protagonist of episode four, while South Sudan’s Khaman Maluach stars in episode five.

Hendawy was born into basketball, with his father, mother and grandfather all former players.

“We eat and breathe basketball,” he proudly says in the show.

His father Kaidar Hendawy is considered an Al Ahly and Egypt legend.

“He’s known for the games against Zamalek and Ittihad, he always dropped 20 points and 30 and crazy numbers. So I took this from him and I just continued my own legacy by