SPORTS
Brotherhood Through Basketball A local league impresses talent and faith of all kinds through its organized, competitive hoops and an unshakeable brotherly bond BY HABEEBA HUSAIN
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hen former and current NBA players stand on the sidelines of your basketball game — and even join in themselves — it’s clear you’ve got something special on your hands. Muslim Basketball, a men’s league that began in New Jersey 15 years ago, not only left a spectacular impression on its 1,400-plus unique players over the years, but also on the pros too. “I think it has great potential, great potential,” said former NBA player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf when he visited the league in 2013. “I’m really liking what I see.” In addition to Abdul-Rauf, many other Muslim and non-Muslim talents have graced the league’s courts. Former Seton Hall University starter and current head coach at Farleigh Dickinson University Marcus Toney-El, a former University of Pennsylvania two-time Ivy League Player of the Year, retired professional player overseas Ibrahim Jaaber and current NBA player Enes Kanter have all had a connection with Muslim Basketball. Kanter is the most recent. The current Portland Trail Blazer visited Muslim Basketball in 2019 through a joint event with SMILE for Charity, a nonprofit also based in New Jersey. The 6-foot-11-inch center’s visit was twofold. In the morning, he hosted a Q&A with the Muslim Basketball players in Parsippany and then competed in 54 ISLAMIC HORIZONS JULY/AUGUST 2021
a 3-point shootout with a longtime member of the league. “Our player actually won,” says 25-year-old Ibrahim Omar, who joined Muslim Basketball as a stats keeper in high school 10 years ago and currently serves as a commissioner/director. “We had [Kanter] hanging out in the crowd while our games were going on, watching … cheering, and players chatting with him on the sideline.” Kanter also sold some autographs, and the money raised went to SMILE for Charity to help combat poverty in the state. For the second part of the NBA player’s visit, Muslim Basketball organized a youth camp at nearby Passaic High School. One hundred kids, aged 6 to 17, participated. “He actually scratched our schedule and told us what to do,” laughs another commissioner/director, 36-year-old Edriss Froogh.
