It’s a bit different for Gorgui Dieng to be on the other side of this.
Sure, he’s going to be entering his third season in the NBA, but when he was 19 years old, he was having Dwight Howard go through drills with him in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Fast-forward six years later, and it’s Dieng who is leading the drills with hopeful basketball players.
Dieng’s basketball career started at Basketball Without Borders and he’s hoping that he can influence a few others like Howard did to Dieng during his time at this year's Basketball Without Borders.
Mark Remme did a great job of recapping how important this program was and is to Dieng back in October of 2013. You can read that here.
Dieng addressed the media on Thursday afternoon to discuss his journey to Basketball Without Borders and what the event truly means to him.
“It’s a pleasure to be here today,” Dieng said in the call. “(To) share my experience six years ago. I was just a camper. Today I feel lucky to be back and talk to these kids.”
Dieng, along with current players and legends, has been working with campers for the last two days in Johannesburg.
On August 1, the first NBA game in Africa will take place at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg. The game is sold out and will feature a Team Africa vs. Team World format and will be played in support of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Africa, SOS Children’s Villages Association of South African and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
The game will air live on ESPN at 8 a.m. CST.
“I hope the game will help spread out basketball in this continent and get more involved and make basketball bigger and bigger in basketball,” Dieng said.
By looking at the rosters in the game, it should grab the attention of plenty of fans – and more importantly attract new ones in Africa.
Team Africa will consist of Dieng, Luol Deng, Al-Farouq Aminu, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nicolas Batum, Bismack Biyumbo, Boris Diaw, Festus Ezeli, Serge Ibaka, Nazr Mohammed, and former Wolves forward Luc Mbah a Moute.
When asked about the roster, Dieng joked that the true question we should be asking is, “who is going to play point guard?”
That question is pretty valid. While he volunteered (jokingly), that position will likely be played by Antetokounmpo and Batum.
Team World will consist of Chris Paul, Bradley Beal, Trey Burke, Kenneth Faried, Pau Gasol, Jeff Green, Evan Turner and Nikola Vucevic.
Gregg Popovich will coach Team Africa, while Lionel Hollins will coach Team World. Among attendance will be NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as well as Hall of Famers Dikembe Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Speaking of Olajuwon, Dieng has used his time with Olajuwon very well so far. He asked “The Dream” to work with him. Olajuwon said yes and the two have been working out together over the last two days – for about 45 minutes at 7 a.m. before any Basketball Without Borders activities.
“Post moves and just trying to create space between (me) and the defender,” Dieng said on what he was working on with Olajuwon. “Just try to add more tools than what I have.”
And The Dream Shake?
“He taught me that, but I almost sprained my ankle,” Dieng joked.
Make sure to tune into ESPN on Saturday morning to catch Dieng play in the first NBA game in Africa.