BASKETBALL – Bahraini basketball star Muzamil Ameer Hamoda has become the first-ever player from the kingdom to be drafted to the NBA G League – the developmental league of the US-based National Basketball Association (NBA).
Hamoda was one of 20 rising talents from around the world selected as part of the 2026-27 NBA G League International Draft, which took place on Thursday.
He was picked eighth overall by the San Diego Clippers, the G League affiliate of the NBA’s LA Clippers.
Hamoda was later acquired by the Texas Legends, the G League affiliate of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, in exchange for the returning player rights to American Justin Powell.
The versatile six-foot, six-inch guard-forward, who is popularly known by his nickname Zee, is understood to be the first player from the GCC to be picked in the G League draft.
It also featured talents from Spain, Senegal, Costa Rica, Egypt, Poland, France, Australia, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, Sweden, Armenia, Colombia, and the Ivory Coast.
Hamoda is one of the kingdom’s top players and has already been making a name for himself over the past few years in the US.
In 2020, he received a scholarship to play as a student-athlete at Bridgton Academy, an all-male college preparatory school in Maine.
He then became the first-ever player from Bahrain to play in Division One men’s basketball in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with Utah State University in Utah.
Hamoda has since also competed as a student-athlete for Sacramento State in California and Nicholls State University in Louisiana.
Hamoda has also helped Bahrain make history at the continental and regional levels as a key member of the kingdom’s senior men’s national team.
He was part of the squad that flew the Bahrain flag – as one of the teams from Asia – in their historic, first-ever participation in a Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July of 2024, and that same year in September helped spearhead the nationals secure their maiden crown in the Gulf Basketball Association Championship for National Teams.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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