South African basketball star Samkelo Cele, who played in the NBA Summer League with the New York Knicks, has signed with Basketball Africa League defending champions Petro de Luanda ahead of the BAL playoffs in June.
Cele played in the NBA Summer League with the Knicks in 2024, scoring 11 points with 2 rebounds in just under 18 minutes on the floor in a win over the Atlanta Hawks. After stints with Burundi's Dynamo BBC and Oman's Al Bashaer, he joined Spain's Real Valladolid this year.
Cele told ESPN that in the Summer League, around NBA players, he did not feel out of place: "I showed I belong, but the situation or the opportunity wasn't - I guess - the right one to fully showcase who Samkelo is, but the experience overall was great.