Rumors

Angolan President João Lourenço received two of the biggest American stars in sports and entertainment at the Presidential Palace in Luanda this Sunday: basketball player LeBron James and actor, producer and musician Will Smith. The two guests are in Angola to attend Luanda's debut on the UIM E1 World Championship calendar, an international electric boat competition that brings together teams associated with various world personalities. During the meeting, João Lourenço spoke with LeBron James and Will Smith about the possibilities for international promotion of Angola, particularly through tourism, film, and basketball. The presence of the two celebrities in the Angolan capital is seen as an opportunity to project the country's image to global audiences and reinforce the commitment to hosting major sporting events.

24Horas

The presence of the American superstar in the Angolan capital is transforming his African debut into an event that goes far beyond the boundaries of basketball. Since Friday in Luanda, the NBA champion has been participating in the E1 Electric Boat World Championship stage, scheduled for this Sunday, the 13th, in an initiative that combines sport, technology, business, tourism and sustainability. Before entering the competition, LeBron James had his first contact with some of the leading figures in Angolan business during a private Executive Breakfast offered by the Minister of Tourism, Márcio Daniel. The meeting brought together representatives from different sectors of the national economy, as well as personalities linked to the organization of the event, providing a privileged space for dialogue and networking between one of the biggest stars in world sport and the Angolan business community. Among the participants were Alejandro Agag, from E1, Tiago Madaleno, from Projecto Lundo, Agostinho Kapaia, from Grupo OPAIA, Alexandre de Matos, from Shining Star, Diogo Caldas, from Refriango, Nelson Carrinho, from Grupo Carrinho, Rui Oliveira, from BFA Gestão de Activos, Andreia Machado, from Grupo Cosal, Isabel Espírito Santo, from Banco Millennium Atlântico, and Mário Mota Lemos, CEO of ENSA, among others.

Jornal Economico

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade have officially signed Angolan center Bruno Fernando, the team announced. The 27-year-old joins the Serbian club after starting the season with Real Madrid, where he struggled to find consistent minutes under coach Sergio Scariolo.

BasketNews

Angola has won its record-setting 12th AfroBasket championship, defeating Mali on Sunday by a score of 70-43 in the tournament’s championship game. Angola, the host of AfroBasket 2025, was led by Childe Dundao, who scored a game-high 16 points vs. Mali to go along with five assists, four rebounds, and three steals. The 27-year-old point guard was named the Most Valuable Player of the event in addition to earning a spot on the AfroBasket All-Tournament team.

Hoops Rumors

Marc Stein: Jonathan Kuminga was on the Democratic Republic of Congo’s preliminary roster for @AfroBasket in Angola, which starts Aug. 12, but I’m told Kuminga is not expected to play for his national team due to his ongoing restricted free agency stalemate with Golden State.

Twitter

The Toronto Raptors are expected to place 26-year-old forward/center Bruno Fernando on the waivers list over the next few hours to avoid picking up guaranteed salary for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. The decision has been confirmed by multiple reports in the United States, including notes about links between the Angolan big and Turkish Airlines EuroLeague outfit Fenerbahce Beko. It remains unclear whether Fernando will consider options outside the NBA as a free agent. However, potentially becoming an unrestricted free agent will indeed open a path toward Fener.

EuroHoops.net

Metta World Peace: So, I told my agent, “I want to go to Greece. I really don’t want to play with anyone else.” My agent, David B., and I discussed it, and I said, “I want to go to Europe. There’s nobody I want to play with.” I got a call from a few players—some really good players—but I said no. It’s not because I didn’t like them. I just respected them enough to want to compete against them. I wanted to test where I was at. When I tried to sign with the team in Greece, they said, “No way Ron Artest wants to come to Greece.” I was like, “Why didn’t you even give me an interview?” I took it a certain way. Then, I tried to go to Angola. I wanted to play in Africa—in the motherland. The people in Angola were like, “No way.” They weren’t taking my call. I was like, “How do you not take my call? I just averaged 25 points against the Lakers.” It was unbelievable.

YouTube

Former Blazers player Jarron Cumberland signed with Angolan team Petro de Luanda for the 2024 season.

HoopsHype

Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic told ESPN that signing Angolan center Bruno Fernando from the Atlanta Hawks was a no-brainer, and that the team had been following Fernando 'for years'. Fernando is currently in Johannesburg for Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa and confirmed his move to the Raptors in an interview with ESPN, having been waived by the Hawks last week.

ESPN

The team coached by Nestor Garcia defeated Angola on Tuesday and completed a 3-0 sweep in their group in the FIBA World Cup 2023. Karl-Anthony Towns, who had foul troubles in the aforementioned game, appeared in the post-game conference and had high praises for the head coach and the whole team. "We have a special team. Everyone counted us out and didn't think we could be great," he began. "But practice with one of the best coaches in the world, Che, we believed we could do something unique.”

BasketNews

Overcoming adversity to go through to the next round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup with a 3-0 W-L tally, the Dominican Republic narrowly held on for the 75-67 victory versus Angola in Smart Araneta Coliseum Tuesday. Joventut Badalona’s Andres Feliz was once again crucial for Nestor Garcia’s team, scoring 17 points with 6 assists while shooting 6/7 from the field and 4/4 at the charity stripe.

EuroHoops.net

Delivering double-doubles in back-to-back figures during his first two appearances on the big stage with the Dominican Republic, Karl-Anthony Towns had a pretty flat performance in the win, scoring eight points with two rebounds by spending only 15 minutes on the court due to foul trouble.

EuroHoops.net

BasketNews: Karl-Anthony Towns enjoying his life representing 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic 😍 #FIBAWC #WinForAll

Twitter

Despite trailing in the first quarter off to a powerful start from the hosts in front of the Smart Araneta Coliseum firing crowd, Angola came back and beat the Philippines 80-70. Making some damage to Italy’s frontcourt, Bruno Fernando had a great showing against the Philippines as well, ending with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

EuroHoops.net