Nairobi City Thunder, the reigning champions of the national men’s basketball league, have strengthened their roster ahead of the Elite 16 round of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) by signing two international stars.
The team has welcomed Niger shooting guard Abdoulaye Harouna and Lebanese power forward Majok Ater in anticipation of a challenging round as they aim to become the first Kenyan team to qualify for the final BAL tournament.
Both players bring a wealth of experience from their time in the BAL, with Harouna participating in all four editions of the tournament. His impressive resume includes stints with AS Nigelec in Niger, Cameroon’s Forces Armées et Police Basketball (FAP), AS Sale in Morocco, ABC Fighters in Ivory Coast, and Senegal’s AS Douanes. This year, he was also named to the All-BAL Defensive Team.
Majok Ater, known as AJ, has an intriguing background; born in Sudan and raised in Australia, he now represents Lebanon internationally. He joins Thunder from Libyan club US Monastir and has previously played for AL Ahly Benghazi, Rwanda’s Patriots, and Angola’s Petro de Luanda.
The addition of these two players comes at a crucial time for Thunder as they prepare for the Elite 16 round of the BAL qualifiers, the final opportunity to secure a spot in the main tournament. The team suffered a setback when American power forward Will Sydney was sidelined due to injury during the East Division qualifiers, making Ater’s arrival from US Monastir an essential reinforcement.
Thunder finished second in the East Division qualifiers, narrowly missing out to Burundi’s Urunani, who boasted a roster full of foreign talent. With a larger stage ahead, Thunder coach Brad Ibs recognized the need to bolster the team’s size, especially considering Sydney’s recovery timeline.
