By: Editor

The National Basketball Association (NBA) of the US, playoffs are underway and the matchups are one of the most exciting in years giving the level of play of the teams during the regular season.

The Western conference which can easily be dubbed the Conference of death is once again hyper competitive as it has been for years and despite some naïve projections by some pundits, any team can come out of the west out of the eight that made it to the playoffs as it was evident with the results of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers matchup; where the Warriors handed the favored Clippers a defeat on their home court.

It was a day of upsets with three out of the four road teams winning the games in the first games of the first round.

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Clippers by a score of 109 – 105.

The Brooklyn Nets and its cadre of veterans proved that experience is the best teacher, as they tutored the upstart Toronto Raptors defeating them by a score of 94 – 87 with wily old veteran in Paul Pierce providing the spark  for the Nets.

The Pacers who at one time at the start of the 2014 season were favored to go all the way to the NBA Championships faltered very badly at home as they fell to the Atlanta Hawks by a score of 101 – 93 thanks to the brilliant play of Hawks Point Guard Jeff Teague who was unguardable all evening long, as well as the lackluster play of Pacer’s star Paul George and ball hogger Lance Stephenson.

The only team that held home court advantage was the Oklahoma City Thunder who defeated the Memphis Grizzlies handily by a score of  100 – 86 despite the valiant efforts of the Grizzlies who fought back after falling back several times during the game and were even down by 22 points at one point in the game . 

By: Editor

FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, announced today the launch of the international tender process to identify the host nation for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, with an invitation to express an interest (click here) distributed to all National Federations. 

The FIBA Basketball World Cup is the flagship event of the basketball calendar, with a global TV audience of 800 million across 171 countries. The 2019 event marks a new era and will see its greatest field of 32 countries line up, increasing the pool of world famous stars and the global appeal of the event. The 32 countries will meet for 16 days of competition, playing 92 games in total.

National Federations have the opportunity to bid for both the 2019 and 2023 editions of the FIBA Basketball World Cup if FIBA decides to award both events at the same time.

"Basketball is a truly global sport and we are proud to share our flagship event with the world," said FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Patrick Baumann.

"2019 will be our largest event yet and will mark our place in the global sporting calendar. We are looking for a host that can stage the most prestigious sporting event of the year. It will be the culmination of a two-year qualification process and promises to be a winning combination for players, supporters and hosts.

"FIBA welcomes joint bids from several National Federations to co-host the 2019 and/or 2023 edition(s) of the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

"As well as competing for the number one prize in basketball – the Naismith Trophy – the teams will also have their eyes on securing qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games. Seven teams will secure their ticket to Tokyo directly based on their performance at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, while 16 more will earn a spot to FIBA's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments."

FIBA’s flagship event has taken place in world class locations around the globe – Argentina, Brazil, Canada, USA, Japan, Turkey and pitted the game's greatest names against each other.

The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the first World Cup ever, will take place in Spain from 30 August to 14 September. For more information, go to www.fiba.com/spain2014.

The growing demand of national federations, cities and nations to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup has led FIBA to develop a new structured bid process, which will see its conclusion in May 2015, when the FIBA Central Board will decide on the 2019 hosts.

The bidding process to host the 18th edition of FIBA's flagship event in five years’ time is open to all of its member national federations. Those that want to express an interest have until 9 June 2014 to make their submission.

By: Editor

The first midweek match of the season and an Eastern Conference clash with early “red line” implications highlight Week 7 in Major League Soccer. A couple of Northeast Corridor rivals meet in Harrison, N.J., Wednesday night as the New York Red Bulls host the Philadelphia Union in the first weeknight game of the 2014 season. The Red Bulls, last year’s Supporters Shield winners, are off to a frustrating start, having lost two and tied four to begin the season. The Union, who come off a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake, have one win and four draws to begin the season.

The Red Bulls are one of five teams looking for their first victory of the campaign. Another is the Chicago Fire, who have one loss and five draws through Week 6 and host the New England Revolution on Saturday at Toyota Park (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN). The Fire-Revolution battle could be a big swing match in the standings as three points would propel Chicago past New England, who currently sit just above the “red line” that signifies who’s in playoff position.

The remaining three winless teams include the Montreal Impact, Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes.

By Editor

MIES, Switzerland (FIBA Basketball World Cup) – Following outstanding demand from fans in Spain and around the world in the first two months of sale, FIBA is pleased to announce that an additional allocation of Venue Passes and Finals Passes for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be released for public sale on Tuesday 15 April at 12:00 local time (GMT+2) on www.fiba.com/spain2014/tickets.

All available Finals Passes were bought in a matter of hours and more than 80 percent of the passes available for Bilbao, Granada and Madrid were sold out in just a few days. Therefore, this new allocation will provide fans with what might be their last chance to be part of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in these cities this summer (30 August-14 September). Gran Canaria and Sevilla are also looking to set excellent standards in terms of travelling fans and locals alike.

Basketball fans should not miss out on the opportunity of spending a few days in Barcelona to enjoy Final Phase action in Palau Sant Jordi which could feature reigning world champions USA and top-seeded side Lithuania. Meanwhile, tournament hosts Spain and Argentina, who are ranked third in the FIBA Ranking Men, would give fans at Madrid’s Palacio de los Deportes some great games to look forward to if they make it past the Group Phase.

Venue Passes are the easiest way to enjoy all the games taking place in any of the six cities hosting the FIBA Basketball World Cup – Bilbao, Gran Canaria, Granada and Sevilla for the Group Phase; Barcelona and Madrid for the Final Phase. What's best, they are also the cheapest way, since fans will be able to save 20 percent on the official price for the individual sessions, with passes priced as low as €103,20 for 15 Group Phase games.

Finals Passes grant combined access to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Final (Sunday 14 September) and the Third-Place Game (Saturday 13 September) in Madrid. They are available only to fans that have purchased a Venue Pass for any of the six host cities.

If any of these passes are left over, they will be added to the limited supply of the two remaining ticket types yet to be unveiled: the Day Passes that go on sale on 5 May and the Session Tickets being made available on 1 July.

To purchase tickets and find out all the necessary information, go to fiba.com/spain2014/tickets.

By Editor

After a year’s hiatus Africa’s first ever and only comprehensive sports magazine has returned with a bang. In this issue of African Sports Monthly we dedicate the front cover to the greatest African that ever lived in Nelson ‘Madiba’ Mandela for his incomparable contribution to Africa especially so in the world of sports. Nelson Mandela died on December 5th 2013 but his legacy in many facets of life, most particularly his recognition of the value of sports within society will forever remain with us in Africa. He stands alone as one of the very few African leaders who knew and saw the true value of sports as a vehicle of social mobilization to achieve a myriad of significant milestones one of which was in uniting South Africa which was at the crossroads to a brutal Civil War back in the mid 1990’s

By Editor

It is our tradition at African Sports Monthly to award the best Male and Female African Sports Personalities for their exploits on and off the field of play every year. .

African Sports Monthly Magazine initiated the two category Awards for male and female athletes in 2010 at the year of our founding and have continued that tradition ever since save for the 2012 Award which was cancelled due to an internal decision by our organization.

By Leslie Koroma

Friday night was a  busy one in the NBA with 9 games across the league that saw the Miami Heat lose to the Sacramento Kings. The Kings have been playing very well lately ever since acquiring superstar Rudy Gay. On Friday night they took it to the Miami Heat’s, who besides losing the game to the Kings by a score of  103 – 108 had their main star in LeBron James come down with a groin injury.