NBA: Legend Dikembe Mutombo looking to win over football fans in Manchester

NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo believes basketball has the ability to reach UK fans in the same way as football.

On Tuesday the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Philadelphia 76ers will face one another in a pre season game aimed at promoting the sport in the UK.

“This game is very significant,” said the NBA legend.

“The NBA has a massive fan base and we are very popular but not as much outside of North America.

“Up in Manchester you have great football teams in Manchester United and Manchester City with very passionate fans and we are looking forward to opening up basketball to those people.

“Growing up in the Congo I played football. I didn’t play basketball until I was 20 years old and I had no exposure to basketball, so we want to give that to young people in Europe and outside of the United States.

“Last year London built one of the best basketball arenas in Europe and anywhere in the world [for the Olympics] and that let some people see the sport, but we hope that bringing the game to Manchester will give people another opportunity.”

Mutombo hopes that Tuesday’s game, and the fans he hopes it will generate, can eventually pave the way for a British-based NBA franchise.

“Whenever there is talk about putting a franchise outside of North America, London is talked about.

“For a long time it has been seen as a possibility but we have a new Commissioner coming in in Adam Silver and I don’t know if it is on his agenda.

“It would be nice though. London and Manchester are not too far away from America.”

One player European fans will be denied the opportunity to see in person is Oklahoma’s All Star guard Russell Westbrook, who has been ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury, but Mutombo believes the Thunder have more than enough talent to make them worth showing up for on Tuesday.

“They still have great players. They are still one of the best young teams in the NBA. They are on the way up not on the way down.

“They have two All-Star level players in Serge Ibaka and Kevin Durant.”

Mutombo believes that Serge Ibaka is a player to watch out for this season due to his high-flying shot blocking and defensive presence.

“Serge Ibaka is like a young Dikembe Mutombo. I think either he or [Houston Rockets centre] Dwight Howard will be the dominant defensive player next season.”

Both Ibaka and Durant have a task on their hands on Tuesday evening to win over fans who are immersed in a culture where football reigns supreme but, if Mutombo’s experience is anything to go by, just one taste of NBA action will be enough to give rise to a new generation of basketball fans in Britain.

The Oklahoma City Thunder face the Philadelphia 76ers at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester on October 8th as part of NBA Global Games Manchester 2013. Tickets are available at www.eventim.co.uk