PRETORIA, South Africa – Bryton Hobbs planned to take a post-practice nap after completing a phone call with his cousin and Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum late Sunday morning. Shortly after, however, the Burundi Dynamo guard was wide awake after learning his team forfeited Sunday’s Basketball Africa League game after team officials declined to stop making a political statement against Rwanda by covering up a Rwandan tourism logo on its jerseys.
“My friend called and said, ‘Hey, did you hear the news?’ I’m like, ‘What? What’s going on?’ He was like, ‘Man, they say y’all forfeited,” Hobbs told Andscape on Sunday night. “I said, ‘Nah, I’ll call you right back. Let me go figure this out.’ Then I go talk to the coach, they tell me the news and I’m like, ‘What? That doesn’t even make sense …’
“I just know Rwanda and Burundi are just not seeing eye to eye right now. It’s tough because we got guys from Burundi on the team and it’s been hard on them.”
Burundi team forfeit BAL game after jersey protestRead now
The BAL released a statement Sunday morning that read: “Dynamo Basketball Club (Burundi) has forfeited its game against FUS Rabat Basketball (Morocco) on Sunday, March 10 at the SunBet Arena for refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform.” Dynamo refused to play with a Visit Rwanda logo on the bottom of the front of their jerseys. Dynamo officials put black tape over the logo during a BAL season-opening 86-73 victory over the Cape Town Tigers on March 9. Hobbs said he didn’t realize the advertisement was taped over until he touched his jersey early in the game.
In January, Burundi closed its border between the landlocked central-eastern African countries. This came weeks after Burundi president Évariste Ndayishimiye accused Rwanda president Paul Kagame’s government of backing the RED-Tabara rebel militia in late December 2023. Rwanda has denied any wrongdoing.
Hobbs said he wasn’t familiar with Burundi and Rwanda’s issue and prefers not to talk politics. As of Sunday night, Dynamo was still scheduled to play Petro de Luanda (Angola) on Tuesday.
“We will see. As I said it all in the statement, these are the rules,” BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall told Andscape on Sunday night when asked about Tuesday’s game. “With the suspension, they forfeited this game today. We hope that we continue to go back to normal.”
Hobbs said Dynamo players met with team officials early Sunday night at the team hotel. The St. Louis native is the team’s only American. He was among a handful of players who taped videos sent to Ndayishimiye asking for permission to play, hoping to honor their country. Hobbs said his message in English was translated to the native language of Kirundi.
“We sent a couple videos to the president, just telling them thank you for your support, hopefully we can continue to play on and we’re trying to uplift Burundi,” Hobbs said.
Burundi Dynamo guard Bryton Hobbs attends a Basketball Africa League game March 10 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Marc J. Spears/Andscape
Hobbs played for Division II Northeastern State in Oklahoma from 2012-14, averaging 20.7 points and 5.3 assists per game in two seasons. Since then, the 6-foot, 170-pound guard has been a journeyman playing overseas in Australia, Hungary, Lithuania, China, Albania and now Africa. His agent called him about playing for Dynamo after it qualified for the 2024 BAL season.
Hobbs said he initially planned to decline Dynamo’s offer because they planned to practice outdoors twice a day on a concrete court in preparation for BAL. Dynamo does not have a gym. Ultimately, Hobbs was convinced to say yes by friends from back home as well as the attraction of spending time in Africa and playing in the globally known BAL. Hobbs said he has enjoyed playing for Dynamo and the people he’s met in Burundi, a nation of roughly 12 million residents.
“To be honest, it’s been a rocky road,” Hobbs said of his playing career overseas. “I haven’t had many highs. I’ve had my lows. So, to make to this point and to play in a nationally televised marketed system, it is a dream come true. I’m doing something I love. I love traveling the world, so I’m just happy. And I love South Africa too. I love Africa …
“The people in Burundi are loving. They want to be better at everything and I’m not just talking about basketball. They want to learn. They have good heart. They’re good people who are about their community, which is a great thing.”
Ijeoma Ofomata has gone from Basketball Africa League to Milwaukee Bucks’ front officeRead now
Hobbs said he enjoyed the month he spent in Burundi preparing for the BAL season before flying into Johannesburg last week. He had 20 points and eight assists against Cape Town in the win on March 9, but Dynamo now has a 1-1 record due to its forfeit with four games remaining until the playoffs in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali. Hobbs was very excited to play in front of a sold-out crowd of about 8,000 against Cape Town at SunBet Arena. That game was also seen by his friends and family back in St. Louis who could watch on NBATV and the NBA app.
On Sunday night, Hobbs sat and watched as Petro de Luanda (Angola) defeated Cape Town 100-88. He and his Dynamo teammates are crossing their fingers that they will be back in action Tuesday night.
“In my heart, yes, I feel that we’re going to play Tuesday,” Hobbs said. “The government, the president, I feel like they’re going to give us the OK and we’re going to go out and put on a great performance and play for Burundi.”
Marc J. Spears is the senior NBA writer for Andscape. He used to be able to dunk on you, but he hasn’t been able to in years and his knees still hurt.
