Former Nairobi City Thunder ace signs for Burundian side

Weeks after featuring in the Basketball Africa League (BAL), turning out for Senegalese side AS Ville de Dakar, former Nairobi City Thunder forward Ater Majok has joined Burundi's Urunani. 

The journeyman was instrumental in Thunder's qualification to the premier African men's club competition, but switched sides ahead of the Conferences, eventually missing out on the playoff matches hosted in South Africa last week. 

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Urunani are bolstering their squad as they look to fight for the league title and a chance to return to the Road to BAL, where they are chasing a maiden qualification.

Last year the side was side was eliminated in the semis of the Elite 16 in Nairobi, finishing third behind Thunder and Cape Verde's Kriol Star. 

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The 2022 BAL Defensive Player of the Year bagged silver in the inaugural BAL season in 2021 with Tunisians US Monastir, a side he has played for in three of the four seasons held so far.

They lifted the 2022 title, Majok making the All-BAL first team. 

He featured for Petro de Luanda in the 2023 season as they lost the third-place playoffs to Mali's Stade Malien.

The 37-year-old made the BAL All-Defensive Team. He was also named in the All-Defensive Second Team in the 2024 BAL.

The 6ft 11 in player with Australian and Lebanese passports, and is of South Sudanese decent, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 NBA draft with the 58th overall pick.

He joined them for the 2012 NBA Summer League where in three games (1 start), he averaged 1.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 15 minutes per game.

He joins a side boasting immense depth, as Urunani have also roped in former City Oilers' guard Petty Parish.

Another journeyman and former teammate in Dakar, William Perry was unveiled at the end of May but he is said to have picked a shoulder injury that kept him out of the playoffs. 

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The squad also sees the return of coach Iñaki Martin Garcia Joseba who was part of the l coaching staff during the 2022 Playoffs and the 2023 Elite 16 in Johannesburg.