BAL Combine MVP coming to Thunder
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Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 27.09.25. | 12:01
The side clinched their second national championship with a commanding 3-0 sweep over KPA, extending their incredible unbeaten run in the league to 82 games
Nairobi City Thunder, back-to-back Kenya basketball champions, seem to have hit the ground running in their quest to qualify for the Basketball Africa League 2026 (BAL), as the Bradley Ibs-coached side has landed sought-after point guard Chase Adams.
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Adams was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2025 BAL Combine, a scouting event preceding the Conferences after the qualification process, held in Rabat, Morocco, from 5 to 7 January.
Thunder are looking to qualify for the 2026 BAL and improve on their performance in the Conference for a chance to play in the final playoffs.
After an undefeated season, to lift a maiden national league title last year, Thunder played in the Group Phase of the Road to BAL in Kibaha, Tanzania, finishing second behind Burundi’s Urunani. As hosts of the Elite 16 East Division, Thunder topped the charts to become the first Kenyan side to qualify for BAL.
Playing in the Nile Conference, hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, from 17 to 25 May, Ibs’ charges picked a single victory against South Africa’s MBB in six matches. In their final clash against hosts APR, Obadiah Noel’s three-pointer with three seconds left on the clock condemned Thunder to their fifth loss of the Conference.
With Thunder beginning their journey at the Elite 16 level, likely returning to Nairobi for the second year in a row, Adams is a needed addition to the side that struggled with depth on their BAL debut.
Thunder clinched their second championship with a commanding 3-0 sweep over Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), extending their incredible unbeaten run in the league to 82 games.
Ibs charges will hope to replicate that same momentum when they take on much stronger opponents in the Elite 16.
The side has been given a bye from the Road to BAL East Division Group D set, tentatively for 15 to 19 October in Dar es Salaam, pitting Burundi champions Dynamo BBC, hosts Dar City, Gamble of Ethiopia, and Uganda’s Namuwongo Blazers.
