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April 30, 2022

How I started playing basketball – Nosa Okunbo 

How I started playing basketball – Nosa Okunbo 

Nosa Okunbo 

Ordinarily, many people would have expected young Nosa Okunbo, son of late Edo billionaire, Captain Hosa Okunbo, to graduate from college, get into Havard Business School and get along with the family business.

However, the 6ft 8in-tall teenager found a different path in life. Nothing in this world can be equated to chasing one’s dream, which is usually difficult to jettison when the environment is conducive, and you see success through the shoulders of those who have gone before.

At such a young age, Nosa Okunbo has learnt how to give back to the society. He won the Euroknowledge Youth Advocacy Award and became the youngest ever recipient, for his participation in community service with High Achievers in the UK and the Heart of Gold Foundation in Nigeria, an avenue through which he has continuously explored to give back to Nigerian through his basketball connections.

The Nigerian basketball prodigy has not stopped receiving international recognition for his humanitarian services.

He was awarded the international Burj CEO awards by the Dubai Royal Family for his involvement in Africa To The World (ATTW), a non-profit organization he established this year.

The 19-year-old grew in the United Kingdom and as it is the expected, aspiration of kids in that part of the world is to be a footballer, which Nosa Okunbor also did.

But a change of environment changed it all, and life threw another challenge at him. In the United States, basketball is a platform to express many things. It is a tool to harness talent for some, while the game gives others the veritable ground to address marginalisation of black communities, social injustices and other challenges. 

But for Nosa Okunbo, who currently plays college basketball in the U.S, it is to satisfy the desire to express passion for the game, which Nosa Okunbor started playing at the age of 15 in Houston, Texas.

The talented youngster and future National Basketball Association Most Valuable Person (MVP), has shown that he is ready to take the sport by storm, as he continues to develop himself and prepare for the big opportunity.

Nosa Okunbo recently spoke about how difficult it was for him to navigate from football to dreaming to become an NBA great.

“It was a big decision I had to make, to quit football after already being an established football player back home and to move across the world and start a completely new sport,” Nosa Okunbo said.

Speaking further, Nosa Okunbo said, “I started playing basketball competitively at 15 years old and it all started with me goofing around at a random gym in Houston, and an aau coach urged me to start taking it seriously.”

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