“There is a word that really we don't like, which is ‘raw,'" said Franck Traore, head of basketball operations for NBA Africa. Several academy prospects are playing in the new season of the Basketball Africa League, hoping to gain valuable experience in a professional setting and show that their game is more polished than many think. Now in its third season, the league was created by the NBA in partnership with FIBA to help grow the sport in Africa.