Basketball: Gone with the wind

I will not comment on the play-offs having not had a chance attending any of the games, though I must congratulate the KCB Lions for a comeback and win over arch-rivals Co-op Bank. It seems nothing’s working for CO-op Bank right now given its low-key IPO which was 81% subscribed….but then again this is not about Co-op Bank.
Pres-elect Obama goes for a fast-break.

Earlier this year, I had a chance to interact with a former basketball enthusiast who had sought to promote the game in the 1990s but was frustrated by the KBF officials and loss of corporate support. He emphasized the need for Kenyan basketball teams to detach themselves from companies which sponsor them as ways of so-called corporate social responsibility or merely recreation activities.
At first it had not hit home, but now it makes a lot of sense. Kenyan basketball needs a renaissance similar to what is happening to the Kenyan football scene.
Various communities need to start developing outfits which can be moulded into professional teams with independent management teams and dedicated fan base, say from their locality maybe from a certain part of the Nairobi city or province(s). That way, the team will seek to recruit the best and also set up a communal stage where those who can achieve are recruited into the teams.
The KBF would then divide the different teams into leagues which can then work under the Nairobi Basketball League onto the National League.
These teams can use their local links to recruit say even from universities and/or colleges which are also in the process of setting up a league to compete within themselves. They can develop links with African professional clubs and various European leagues and American colleges which then send their players to the ultimate National Basketball Association in the US.
These are maybe just dreams which swirled through my mind as I saw KCB beat Co-op on the telly and may have just gone with the wind!