Hasheem Manka
Most of you have probably heard the name Hasheem Thabeet. He's the Tanzanian player selected #2 overall in this year's NBA draft - the 2nd highest African taken in the draft behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. Quite a feat and one that required a lot of help along the way. If you check his wikipedia page it notes that he was discovered by "an agent" while in Nairobi. Over the weekend I heard the real story.
Now, first a caveat. Truth in Africa is not like truth in other places. I'm not saying things aren't true, I'm just saying that the bar that must be reached for something to be declared true isn't quite as high. It's not traditionally a part of the culture to do investigative journalism on all rumors. Instead people just trust authoritative figures to be truthful. So while I can't exactly verify this story, it's the one I heard from an authoritative source, in fact the person who claims to have found Hasheem.
We'll call him Moses. He's a decent basketball player with good foot speed and a quality jumper. But Moses's biggest talent is his mouth. The man can talk, and will, non-stop. Even on 3 hour bus rides through Africa. This talent has served him well and he's doing well for himself now, but that wasn't always the case.
Moses's story actually starts in America. California to be exact where he moved with his father at 7 months old. His father, also a Cameroonian, was working on a PhD at Stanford in Economics. Moses spent several years in America, but was soon forced back to Cameroon when his father's studies finished. People in America tried to convince his father to stay and get a job at the World Bank or IMF, but his father has a passion for his country. As a result, he has spent the rest of his life trying to develop Cameroon, with little to show for his efforts. Instead the family was always low on money and respect. Moses's father, always mindful of the importance of education, managed to send Moses to Nairobi to finish his college degree. But Moses had other plans.
Moses began associating himself with a Cameroonian named Oliver (mentioned in this article) who had made quite a lucrative career out of sending boys to the US to play basketball for high schools and colleges. Moses told me that Oliver typically gets $50,000 for every boy who goes over. The boy's family is expected to pay a large chunk of that, and, if not, will be in debt to Oliver. Moses was anxious to start a career of his own in Nairobi and not fall into the same poverty trap his father had tripped into. Oliver told Moses that if he could find some tall players in Kenya then they could do business. Months passed without any luck for Moses and he was running low on money. Oliver fronted him some money to maintain a residence and for food. Finally Oliver grew disgusted and gave Moses an ultimatum - find talent or find another job.
Around that time Moses had been hearing rumors about a 7-footer who had just moved to Nairobi. After asking around basketball circles he heard that a guy named Sharif was attending a local private high school. Moses visited the school that day and at the gate asked for a tall guy named Sharif. The guard looked puzzled but eventually made the connection to Hasheem and pulled him out of class. Hasheem had never met Moses, but acted as though they were friends so the guard wouldn't ask questions. Moses explained why he was there and what he could do for Hasheem. Hasheem talked it over with his mother and then agreed to let Oliver and Moses help them.
Oliver dropped Hasheem's last name which was Manka, leaving him with just his first and middle names - Hasheem Thabeet - because he thought it would be catchier. They measured Hasheem and found him to be a solid 7'2" and of legitimate age (it's almost impossible to believe either size or age for most African basketball players - remember our lesson on truth?) He then called up Marvin Menzies, who was at the time an assistant coach to Rick Pitino at Louisville and is now head coach at New Mexico State. Marvin, through Oliver, agreed to pay for Hasheem to attend high school in the US where he was moved to three different high schools in order to find the highest bidder for Hasheem. It was around this time that Moses and Oliver had a falling out and Moses was no longer included in the business plan for Hasheem. Although Oliver tried to convince Hasheem to attend Louisville, Thabeet chose UConn instead. Moses believes that no money was exchanged for Hasheem's services.
In the next few years Hasheem tried to distance himself from Oliver who kept wanting Hasheem to turn pro so that Oliver could cash in sooner. When Hasheem finally did turn pro, stories about Oliver's underhanded dealings began to crop up and Hasheem severed all public ties to the Cameroonian businessman. That being said, Hasheem's current agent has been linked with Oliver and most believe that Oliver is still pulling the strings. Moses thinks that Oliver is asking for a payoff that will probably keep growing as Hasheem's career does.
Eventually Hasheem distanced himself from Moses as well as he tried to sort out whom he could trust. Moses says that he spoke to Hasheem two days before the draft and Hasheem said that he would eventually like to help Moses out once he's comfortable with the situation.
Like I said, I can't verify this story as true. But after spending some time on the ground looking for basketball talent in Kenya, I can verify that those kids would do just about anything to make it to the US and there are definitely businessmen willing to profit from such a business.
Now, first a caveat. Truth in Africa is not like truth in other places. I'm not saying things aren't true, I'm just saying that the bar that must be reached for something to be declared true isn't quite as high. It's not traditionally a part of the culture to do investigative journalism on all rumors. Instead people just trust authoritative figures to be truthful. So while I can't exactly verify this story, it's the one I heard from an authoritative source, in fact the person who claims to have found Hasheem.
We'll call him Moses. He's a decent basketball player with good foot speed and a quality jumper. But Moses's biggest talent is his mouth. The man can talk, and will, non-stop. Even on 3 hour bus rides through Africa. This talent has served him well and he's doing well for himself now, but that wasn't always the case.
Moses's story actually starts in America. California to be exact where he moved with his father at 7 months old. His father, also a Cameroonian, was working on a PhD at Stanford in Economics. Moses spent several years in America, but was soon forced back to Cameroon when his father's studies finished. People in America tried to convince his father to stay and get a job at the World Bank or IMF, but his father has a passion for his country. As a result, he has spent the rest of his life trying to develop Cameroon, with little to show for his efforts. Instead the family was always low on money and respect. Moses's father, always mindful of the importance of education, managed to send Moses to Nairobi to finish his college degree. But Moses had other plans.
Moses began associating himself with a Cameroonian named Oliver (mentioned in this article) who had made quite a lucrative career out of sending boys to the US to play basketball for high schools and colleges. Moses told me that Oliver typically gets $50,000 for every boy who goes over. The boy's family is expected to pay a large chunk of that, and, if not, will be in debt to Oliver. Moses was anxious to start a career of his own in Nairobi and not fall into the same poverty trap his father had tripped into. Oliver told Moses that if he could find some tall players in Kenya then they could do business. Months passed without any luck for Moses and he was running low on money. Oliver fronted him some money to maintain a residence and for food. Finally Oliver grew disgusted and gave Moses an ultimatum - find talent or find another job.
Around that time Moses had been hearing rumors about a 7-footer who had just moved to Nairobi. After asking around basketball circles he heard that a guy named Sharif was attending a local private high school. Moses visited the school that day and at the gate asked for a tall guy named Sharif. The guard looked puzzled but eventually made the connection to Hasheem and pulled him out of class. Hasheem had never met Moses, but acted as though they were friends so the guard wouldn't ask questions. Moses explained why he was there and what he could do for Hasheem. Hasheem talked it over with his mother and then agreed to let Oliver and Moses help them.
Oliver dropped Hasheem's last name which was Manka, leaving him with just his first and middle names - Hasheem Thabeet - because he thought it would be catchier. They measured Hasheem and found him to be a solid 7'2" and of legitimate age (it's almost impossible to believe either size or age for most African basketball players - remember our lesson on truth?) He then called up Marvin Menzies, who was at the time an assistant coach to Rick Pitino at Louisville and is now head coach at New Mexico State. Marvin, through Oliver, agreed to pay for Hasheem to attend high school in the US where he was moved to three different high schools in order to find the highest bidder for Hasheem. It was around this time that Moses and Oliver had a falling out and Moses was no longer included in the business plan for Hasheem. Although Oliver tried to convince Hasheem to attend Louisville, Thabeet chose UConn instead. Moses believes that no money was exchanged for Hasheem's services.
In the next few years Hasheem tried to distance himself from Oliver who kept wanting Hasheem to turn pro so that Oliver could cash in sooner. When Hasheem finally did turn pro, stories about Oliver's underhanded dealings began to crop up and Hasheem severed all public ties to the Cameroonian businessman. That being said, Hasheem's current agent has been linked with Oliver and most believe that Oliver is still pulling the strings. Moses thinks that Oliver is asking for a payoff that will probably keep growing as Hasheem's career does.
Eventually Hasheem distanced himself from Moses as well as he tried to sort out whom he could trust. Moses says that he spoke to Hasheem two days before the draft and Hasheem said that he would eventually like to help Moses out once he's comfortable with the situation.
Like I said, I can't verify this story as true. But after spending some time on the ground looking for basketball talent in Kenya, I can verify that those kids would do just about anything to make it to the US and there are definitely businessmen willing to profit from such a business.
posted by Michael, aka Tex, aka Jett | 10:18 AM
2 Comments:
This reminds me of an article I read in ESPN magazine about baseball recruitment camps in countries like the Dominican Republic. It sounded like colonization on a smaller scale (in the sports world). The article talked about how trainers and recruiters target 3rd world countries where potential players don't know how much money they could actually get in a contract. They work in that country until players get wise and then move on to another country. According to the article, one of the new targets is South Africa.
Here's a link to the article I referenced in the previous comment.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3974952
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