There will be a first-time BAL champion, and the potential for the first BAL champion from West Africa in AS Douanes. Al Ahly (6-1) is led by head coach Agustin Julbe Bosch (Spain), who led Egypt's Zamalek to the BAL Championship (https://apo-opa.info/3WEBl6e) in the league's inaugural season in 2021, and by 2023 Egyptian Super League MVP and former Texas A&M-Corpus Cristi and University of Oregon guard Ehab Amin, who leads Al Ahly in points, rebounds and assists in the playoffs. AS Douanes (5-2) rallied from a 0-2 start in the Sahara Conference group phase (https://apo-opa.info/435td0M) in Dakar and have not lost since. Former NBA Academy Africa prospect Jean Jacques Boissy led AS Douanes with 28 points in their 92-86 semifinal victory over then undefeated Petro de Luanda (Angola). At 16 years old, NBA Academy Africa prospect and BAL Elevate (https://apo-opa.info/3JAQhNO) player Khaman Maluach (South Sudan) is the youngest player ever to make the BAL Finals. The game will reach fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages, including all 54 countries in Africa, and will livestream around the world on the NBA App, www.NBA.com and https://BAL.NBA.com/.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Basketball Africa League (BAL).