The Basketball Africa League’s second season will begin March 5, 2022, in Dakar, Senegal, sources told ESPN’s The Undefeated.
The 2022 season will include 12 club teams from 12 African countries that will also play games in Cairo, Egypt, and Kigali, Rwanda. The BAL season will also expand to a total of 38 games, with 15 games in Dakar from March 5-15, 15 games in Cairo from April 9-19 and an eight-game playoffs and BAL Finals in Kigali from May 21-28.
BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall is slated to announce details of the second season Thursday in Egypt. FIBA Africa BAL president Ambrose Tashobya and Egypt’s Zamalek, the inaugural BAL champion, are expected to be in attendance.
Zamalek defeated Tunisia’s US Monastir 76-63 to win the inaugural BAL championship on May 30 in Kigali. The BAL championship game was broadcast to fans in 215 countries and territories in 15 languages. Rapper J. Cole also played for Rwanda’s Patriots BBC last season.
The 12 BAL teams next season will be league champions from 12 African countries qualifying from tournaments conducted by FIBA Regional Office Africa across the continent from October to December 2021.
The BAL is also expected to have a free-agent camp in Brooklyn, New York, in January at the Brooklyn Nets’ practice facility.
