Thierry Darlan exclusive: "I want to show the world that African guys can play the point guard position"
Thierry Darlan is on a mission to make it to the NBA. Doing so would be monumental for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Darlan would become the first player from the Central African Republic to play in the league. As the 19-year-old prepares for his first season with the G League Ignite, he sat down with Olympics.com to discuss his path from Africa to the United States, his experience at the NBA Academy Africa, and proving that Africa can produce elite players who aren't just big men.
In the world of basketball, playing in the NBA – the top men’s pro league on the planet – is the ultimate goal for millions of aspiring and active hoopers.
The NBA’s efforts to promote basketball to a global audience through various initiatives including international academies, training camps and league games (not to mention the monumental impact of the fabled Dream Team at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games) has led to a growing cosmopolitan league. In fact, in October 2023 the NBA announced that a record 125 international players from 40 countries and territories across six continents were on opening-night rosters for the 2023-24 season.
But one nation that is yet to be represented on an NBA court is Central African Republic (CAF). However, Thierry Darlan, a 6-foot-7 point guard with a 7-foot-1 wingspan from the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal and current member of the G League Ignite, could be the man who makes history for the African nation.
Theirry Darlan at the 2022 Basketball Without Borders Africa camp in Cairo, Egypt.
Darlan's experience at NBA Academy Africa and the BAL
Born and raised in the CAF capital of Bangui, Darlan excelled on the court at an early age. At 16, he joined NBA Academy Africa: an elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal, for top high school-age prospects from across Africa. NBA Academy Africa, which opened in 2018, aims to help local players grow on the continent while bringing them closer to the NBA. Only 26 players are selected through physical, basketball, and academic tests, making it a life-changing opportunity for these young men.
While Darlan’s skills grew at the Academy, he also gained valuable experience through playing with Angolan pro club Petro de Luanda in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) during the 2022 season. On occasion, that ‘experience’ took the form of some intense physicality during games and training sessions, as Darlan recalls:
“Some of the older guys would be rough with me, throwing some elbows and pushing me. At the time I was thinking, ‘Man what is this!? Play basketball!’ But it was still a valuable experience that helped prepare me for the next level.”
Darlan, who is a huge fan of soccer, FC Barcelona, and Lionel Messi, comes from a basketball family. His grandfather and father played for the CAF national team, as did his uncle Bruno, the current head coach of the team. Darlan started playing for CAF’s national team at age 16 and was a member of the senior squad during the 2023 World Cup qualifiers in 2022, where he averaged 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds in three games. Only 18 at the time, Darlan was unable to help CAF qualify for the tournament, though it was another notch on his ever-expanding belt of basketball knowledge.
“When you play for your national team, you’re playing for something [bigger than yourself],” Darlan proudly states. “You need to put more effort into every play.”
Joining the G League Ignite
2022 was a big year for the 19-year-old. In addition to representing his country at the World Cup qualifiers and Petro de Luanda in the BAL, Darland was named MVP of the 2022 Basketball Without Borders Africa camp in Cairo and led NBA Academy Africa to a title at the 2022 NBA Academy Games in Atlanta, scoring 32 points in the semifinals.
By this point, Darlan was starting to draw scholarship offers to attend and play basketball at major U.S. collegiate programs, including four-time national champions Kansas and 1997 champions Arizona. However, Darlan opted to sign for the NBA G League Ignite: a developmental basketball team in the official minor league organisation of the NBA.
NBA International Basketball Operations' Kim Bohuny with MVPs Jana Elalfy and Thierry Darlan, NBA players and legends, and NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams.
“My family and I made the decision [to go to the G League] together,” Darlan says. “I thought it was the better option for me to grow as a man, too. The team [the Ignite] is going to give me everything I need, they’re going to teach me how to take care of my body, how to manage my money, and I’ll still be taking classes when I’m there too, so I’ll continue to learn.”
Darlan is the sixth NBA Academy graduate to sign with Ignite and the third from NBA Academy Africa; Darlan was a teammate of fellow 2023-24 Ignite player Babacar Sane at NBA Academy Africa
Looking ahead to the 2024 NBA Draft
While Darlan’s G League career is still in its infancy (he has played in just three games at the Showcase Cup at the time of writing, averaging 7.0 points, 1.33 steals and 2.0 assists in 25.4 minutes), he is keeping one eye on the 2024 NBA Draft, where he could make history by becoming the first CAF player to be selected in the first round.
“I don’t feel any pressure on me because there have been some players from my country who were drafted in the second round, like Romain Sato.” Sato was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in 2004, though he never played in the NBA. He is, however, a EuroLeague, EuroCup and Liga ACB champion.
“I know it would be a historic moment [to be drafted], but I don’t feel any pressure on me. I’m just ready [for it].”
Representing the guards of Africa
While Darlan’s primary goal is to make it to the NBA, he says he also feels a responsibility to represent his continent through playing the point guard position: typically played by shorter, quicker athletes with good ball-handling skills, superior passing ability and creative nous.
“A lot of times when people talk about basketball in Africa, they focus on the big men and centers.” Darlan isn’t wrong: some of the best big men to grace an NBA court have come from Africa, including two-time champion Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria), four-time Defensive Player of the Year Dikembe Mutombo (Republic of the Congo), and 2023 MVP Joel Embiid (Cameroon).
“In Africa, you can find plenty of tall guys who run hard on the court, get rebounds, set screens, and do the dirty work. But I want to change that.
“I want to show the world that African guys can play the point guard position, that we can create and do a lot of different things with the ball. I also want to represent the young guys at NBA Academy Africa, to show the world that we have the best academy!”
Ultimately, Darlan wants to prove that he belongs at the most elite level of basketball, regardless of the possible history he could make. After all, this is his journey—as he aptly states.
“My game is unique – it's just me.”