FOR a lad who grew up in Harare’s Glen View high-density suburb, it’s no mean feat to be rubbing shoulders with the best in Europe as a professional basketball player.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
Since his move from Italian side Tezenis Verona to German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) giants Bayern Munich in March, the 25-year-old Zimbabwe star power forward Vitalis Chikoko has been a revelation, helping form the best offense in the league which averages 90 points per match.
Standing at a staggering 2,08 metres, Chikoko has already featured in the Euro League — the highest level tier and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe.
Although currently playing in the BBL semifinal playoffs, Chikoko’s ultimate dream is to play in United States’ lucrative National Basketball Association (NBA).
“My goal is to play in the NBA and I think it’s possible having played for the Houston Rockets in the summer league before and it wasn’t tough for me,” he said in an exclusive interview with Standardsport.
But in the meantime Chikoko is content with enjoying life in the BBL and watching as his story as the first ever Zimbabwean professional basketball player unfolds.
“My journey in basketball has been extremely good.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Every year I move to a better team and it’s just the beginning of something great to come.
I’ve always liked it here in Germany. My name is well-known in the league and they respect me so when I came back I was happy because it wasn’t just coming back to Germany, but to one of the biggest clubs in Europe. I don’t know yet about the extension of the contract, right now I’m just focusing on ending the season strongly and winning the championship,” the athletic high-flyer said.
Chikoko signed a short-term contract with the Bavarian giants, but judging by the number of match-winning performances he has displayed, he should be in line to get a contract extension or else other rivals will be jostling for his signature.
A domestic league champion with Mbare Heat back in 2011, Chikoko had his first contact with basketball when he was
12 years old and for a very tall boy, he found a sport particularly made for him.
Right away he knew he wanted to be a professional basketball player and one day play in the NBA. “I started playing basketball when I was 12 years old and the reason was most of my friends in school and at home played basketball so you know when you are a kid, you just want to do everything your friends are doing, so I joined.
“I was taller than everybody so it didn’t take me time to learn how to play and after a couple of weeks I was in love already. I always wanted to play in the NBA ever since I started playing basketball, so that has been my dream and still is my dream. Most importantly, I knew I was going to be someone through basketball,” Chikoko revealed.
It was at Mbare Heat that the former Prince Edward High School star honed his skills as he prepared for a grand leap into the professional world and he credits the owner of the Mbare-based club for where he is now.
“Mbare Heat actually helped me to be where I am now. The owner of the team Peter Mubanda, who is my manager right now, played a very big role for me to be here and Prince Edward also helped a lot in my development as a player. I was lucky I had people around me who believed that I could do it. My family was there for me always so it was not tough for me to work on my game or believe in myself,” he said.
Chikoko was part of the team that represented Zimbabwe at the Afrobasket Championships in Tunisia last year where the country was making a debut appearance.
While he enjoys success in a foreign land, he also ponders on the future of the game in the country.
“We got a lot of talent in Zimbabwe, but it’s tough to do anything right now because nobody takes basketball that seriously. It does not pay at all and chances of getting out of Africa with basketball are one in a million so as long as we don’t have sponsors, it’s going to be difficult for the game to grow in Zimbabwe,” he said.
