On Saturday 4th, November, industry leaders in music, fashion, art, and business lined the halls of Tiffany Amber Gardens, Lagos, Nigeria, in celebration of the second edition of NBA Meets Art, a special installation exhibited within ART X Lagos 2023.

Titled “Passing / Building / Victory”, the collaboration with renowned Nigerian artist Dennis Osadebe explored the significance of teamwork on the basketball court and how this can inspire community development within Africa's youth culture landscape. "I wanted to create something that was reminiscent of all these pieces that capture playfulness and culture, but most importantly captures team spirit and team building because we need each other in the team," Osadebe explains.

The work stars Osadebe as an athletic action figure with a mirrored basketball in his outstretched arms and dressed in a kit referencing Nigeria's national basketball team in Osadebe's visual language. The chosen jersey numbers in the installation symbolized the draft years of five trans-generational Nigerian players. "It was something different," Osadebe says. "The NBA is always at the precipice of culture. They're always open to doing something different and something new. When I was told about the goal of the NBA in Nigeria and its ambitions for the creative community, it was a no-brainer for me."

Recommitting to the NBA's mission to lean closer to the people, Vice President, NBA Africa & Country Head, NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu states, "The NBA has chosen to expand its ecosystem into Nigeria because of what Nigeria represents right now, what Nigeria represents from the commercial standpoint, what Nigeria represents from a talent standpoint." 

"How do we ensure people have access to watching more NBA games and watching BAL (Basketball Africa League) games? How do we ensure that the average kid gets the opportunity to play basketball? That means we're working with the Ministry of Education and the Sports Ministry to ensure that basketball becomes part of the curriculum. We ensure that our junior MBA program addresses the skills gap that exists in society. Nothing is done in a vacuum. It's all part of a realistic plan. Art is an instrumental element element of that plan."  

The NBA’s history in Nigeria spans more than five decades, dating back to when Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and Oscar Robertson held basketball clinics in Lagos in 1971.  There have been nearly 50 NBA players either born in Nigeria or with at least one Nigerian parent, including Hakeem Olajuwon, who was selected first overall in the 1984 NBA Draft and became the first African player to be selected first overall.  In 2013, the NBA, ExxonMobil, and PanAfricare launched the Power Forward youth development program, which uses basketball to teach health literacy and life skills to secondary school students in Abuja.  To date, Power Forward has reached more than 250,000 boys and girls across 40 schools.  The NBA Nigeria office launched in January 2022.