Africa-Press – Angola. Angolan member of the Atlanta Hawks, from the North American Basketball League (NBA), Bruno Fernando, will be one of the faces of the sports development project, to be implemented in the country.
The fact was announced this Friday, in Luanda, by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Rui Falcão, after a closed-door hearing, granted to the only Angolan to progress in the biggest competition of the sport in the world.
Without providing further data on the aforementioned national project, the minister only informed that it will cover several modalities, involving other athletes as marketing figures.
Rui Falcão praised Bruno Fernando’s performance this season, which shows that the athlete needed opportunities to be among the greats.
“We are happy to have a player in the NBA, something that any Angolan should be proud of. We want more young people to get there”, he said.
He expressed his desire to one day see Bruno Fernando elected NBA MVP, this being possible due to his willingness to work continuously.
Rui Falcão said he believes that another Angolan, Celton Miguel, also residing in the USA, could be the next “military” in the NBA, based on the numbers he has produced.
Celton Miguel is among the picks for the next NBA Draft and has his name in the NCAA transfer portal.
For his part, Bruno Fernando thanked him for the audience and highlighted the support from the Angolan authorities and Angolans in general, a fact that helps him work even harder in favor of his sporting growth.
On vacation in the country, the national team player said that the meeting with the Minister of Youth and Sports served to present his ideas about basketball, because he feels an “obligation” to help the sport that brought him to the world.
He informed that very soon he will arrive at MINJUD, the physical project of what he designed for Angola.
Regarding the state of the sport in the country, he said that it has been growing with the emergence of new teams, especially in Luanda, which continues to be the biggest place in basketball.
“Our basketball is good from what I saw in some games in the final phase of the National Championship, but there is always room for improvement and we will always help in any way we can”, said the 2.8 m player.
Bruno Fernando, trained by 1o de Agosto, is the first and only Angolan to progress in the NBA, having already represented the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and currently the Atlanta Hawks.
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