NBA legend helping grow sport globally
CNN's Maggie Lake catches up with basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo and talks about international expansion of the NBA.

On the court Dikembe Mutobo was one of the best defensive players in NBA history. Now retired, the seven-foot-two all star suits up for a different challenge. As global ambassador for the League, he is on the all fence, trying to build the fan base and scout for new talent.
”Basketball is without border. It has been conducted in almost six continents. This year we embarked our African game in Johannesburg. We have another camp in the Europe in Rome for the first time. The Italian would give it a chance to experience the great deal of basketball with kids coming from all of the Europe, we’ve been marketing in Japan and we’ve been marketing in South America. So we are sort of inside of them.”
“And I know you’ve spent a lot of time on the efforts in Africa. What the challenge is there for the children in those communities?”
“In the past ten years, we were able to build so many basketball courts in the continent, and we want to keep that going. Our commission is really working very hard. And also we want our kids to be educated. And we build more libraries there with more computer services to make sure they are accessible to every kid.”
“And China is a very important market (yeah). So I know you’ve gone there, I know your friend is Yao Ming. How is the growth there? Really seems to be taking hold in China.”
“I would say maybe one third percent of our revenue, of our growth come to China. You know the friends in China, they have really received NBA with open arm and they love our game, they love our players. The television market is really big there compared to any places in the world.”
Building a global audience will take time, but Dikembe Mutobo and the NBA are confident that their patience will pay off.
Maggie Lake, CNN New York.