From the NBA to the BAL: Every Former NBA Player in the Basketball Africa League

In the first Basketball Africa League season, in 2021, one player who had been on an NBA roster took the floor: Ben Uzoh, a former New Jersey Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors player, playing for Rivers Hoopers. In 2026 there were ten.

The count here is players who had been on an NBA roster before their BAL season, taken from published sources: the BAL's own reporting and its list of players with NBA experience, and NBA.com, Wikipedia and RealGM where the BAL says nothing. Three preseason games do not count, so Carlos Morais, who played them for the Toronto Raptors in 2013, is not in it. Every player and every source is on our page of BAL players with NBA experience.

2026: ten former NBA players

The biggest name was Hasheem Thabeet, the second overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and, by Wikipedia's account, the first Tanzanian-born player ever drafted by an NBA team. He played for Memphis, Houston, Portland and Oklahoma City between 2009 and 2014. In 2026 he played seven games for Dar City, the Dar es Salaam club in its first BAL season, and scored 17 points.

The best of them on the floor was Mangok Mathiang of RSSB Tigers. The former Charlotte Hornets player averaged 16.0 points and 14.6 rebounds, was named Defensive Player of the Year, made the All-BAL First Team and won the title. Axel Toupane of ASC Ville de Dakar brought the biggest NBA honour: he was on the Milwaukee Bucks team that won the 2021 NBA championship.

Three clubs had two each. Al Ahly had Murphy and Lofton, Al Ahly Ly had Williams and Baugh, and Dar City had Thabeet and Foster.

The seasons before

The 2022 season had four: Ike Diogu, the ninth pick in 2005, and D.J. Strawberry at Zamalek, and Jamel Artis and Cleanthony Early at Cape Town Tigers. In 2023 Cape Town had both of that season's former NBA players, Michael Gbinije and Josh Hall. In 2024 Libya's Al Ahly Ly signed Pierre Jackson, who played eight games for Dallas, and Kevin Murphy, a 2012 Utah Jazz pick, while Tony Mitchell, who had a 10-day contract with Milwaukee in 2014, played for Egypt's Al Ahly. The 2025 season brought Chasson Randle, George King and Jaylen Adams.

Two who went the other way

Most of these players came to the BAL after the NBA. Two went from the BAL to the NBA.

Ulrich Chomche made his BAL debut for Cameroon's FAP in April 2022, at 16, and played for REG in 2023. The Memphis Grizzlies took him 57th in the 2024 NBA Draft and traded him to the Toronto Raptors.

Khaman Maluach made his debut for South Sudan's Cobra Sports in April 2022, at 15. He played for AS Douanes in 2023 and City Oilers in 2024, then went to Duke. In June 2025 he was the tenth pick in the NBA Draft, selected by the Houston Rockets for the Phoenix Suns.

The G League road

The NBA itself is the narrow end of it. At least 52 BAL players have played in the NBA G League or its forerunner, the D-League, and 20 have played NBA Summer League. Craig Randall II, the 2026 BAL MVP and scorer of the league's single-game record of 54 points, was the G League's Most Improved Player in 2022. Raphiael Putney of Rivers Hoopers and Petro de Luanda is, by ESPN's count, the G League's all-time leader in blocked shots.