The Gumbo Basic Hawks were crowned champions of the second season of the Stanbic Jr. NBA League after defeating the Liberty Clippers in an exciting final held on Saturday, March 7 at Nimra Talata Stadium in Juba, South Sudan.
The championship game brought together the top teams from the league’s Eastern and Western conferences, with the Eastern Conference champions Gumbo Basic Hawks facing off against the Western Conference winners Liberty Clippers. In a tightly contested match, the Hawks outscored the Clippers to secure the title and close out a competitive season.
The finals marked the culmination of a months-long youth basketball competition organized in collaboration with Stanbic Bank and the Luol Deng Foundation, aimed at nurturing grassroots basketball talent in South Sudan.
Leading up to the championship, teams battled through the conference playoffs held between February 25 and March 5. In the Eastern Conference, Gumbo Basic Hawks dominated the series, clinching a 2–0 victory to be crowned conference champions. In the Western Conference, Liberty Clippers secured their place in the final after winning their series 2–1 to emerge as Western Conference champions.
This year’s league featured a total of 27 teams and a demanding 127-game season, with more than 450 boys and girls participating from across the region.
The Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA is the National Basketball Association’s global youth basketball development program designed to teach fundamental basketball skills and core values such as teamwork, respect, determination and community. The initiative focuses on growing the game at grassroots level while improving the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.
Across Africa, the program has expanded significantly, having been launched in 19 countries and reaching more than 390,000 young players on the continent in the past year.
The Juba finals highlighted the continued growth of youth basketball in South Sudan and the role of partnerships between financial institutions, foundations and global sports organizations in supporting the development of young athletes.