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Trent Fitzgerald
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In Nigerian culture, Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said, a person’s full name acts as an affirmation.

Ogwumike, whose full name is Nnemkadi Chinwe Ogwumike, said Nnemkadi means “mother supreme,” Chinwe means “God gives,” and Ogwumike means “warrior.”

Ogwumike is among multiple WNBA players with a name of African origin. Several of those players, though, have opted to shorten their first names during their pro careers. For some players, the change is a choice of convenience or accessibility. For others, it’s an act of preservation.

Andscape spoke with Ogwumike, fellow WNBA players Okikiola “Kiki” Iriafen, Tèmítọ́pẹ́ “Tèmí” Fágbénlé, Eziyoda “Ezi” Magbegor and free-agent Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda about their relationships with their names and how they’ve navigated presenting themselves over the course of their lives.

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Tèmítọ́pẹ́ “Tèmi” Fágbénlé

Team: Toronto Tempo
Where she grew up: London, United Kingdom (born in Baltimore)
Family country of origin: Nigeria

Tèmítọ́pẹ́ is Nigerian of Yoruba origin. I think from the get-go, especially growing up in England, nobody could pronounce Tèmítọ́pẹ́ properly. In Nigeria, a lot of people just shorten their names anyway, so it’s not out of the norm, but I would say that I kept Tèmi because that’s what people could pronounce easier.

Even when [people] say Tèmi, it’s still not the correct intonation, but it’s easier for them to say and easier for them to not butcher. It’s not Temi, it’s Tèmi. There’s accents on it for a reason. Tèmítọ́pẹ́ is a bit harder, although I do love that name and I love it when anyone calls me that — properly. If you don’t know how to say it, don’t say it.

I’ve considered using my full name for basketball rosters, but I’m not having them butcher my name when they call it out in front of thousands of people in the stadiums. I don’t want to hear it. Nope. … It’s just mainly for my own preservation. It takes something out of me to hear it pronounced incorrectly, to hear time after time.

The world isn’t foreign to difficult names to pronounce, right? Like Russian names, Stanislavski, Schwarzenegger, whatever. Whoever else is out there, they will figure out a way to pronounce it. I think the tone is the hardest part of getting it correct, but I do appreciate people’s attempts to try and pronounce it correctly. I think we’ve got a ways to go, but the effort is still there, especially in America.

I love that I’m able to say that I’m from somewhere. … I know my roots. I know my history, and I’m very thankful to be able to call Nigeria home, as well as go back there if I ever need to. It’s just a pride, not only being there, but also being in the diaspora, knowing how successful Nigerians are across all kinds of facets of life. We’re great, we’re smart, we’re athletic, we’re artistic, creative. We’re pretty amazing, and I’m very proud to be part of that demographic.

Okikiola “Kiki” Iriafen

Team: Washington Mystics
Where she grew up: Los Angeles
Family country of origin: Nigeria

Okikiola means, like, “famous wealth” in the language of Yoruba. My parents were very intentional with naming myself and my siblings things that will come to fruition. So, they’re always like, “We see you as a well-known person that’s going to be very well-off.” I believe it’s more of a male name, but my dad was like, “Regardless of male or female, I want my first kid to be Okikiola.”

Growing up, it’s always like you hate when there’s a sub coming in class because it always gets to your name and you’re like, oh, gosh, it’s me, but I’ve always loved my name. I’ve never been ashamed of it or tried to hide it. Some of my professors in school would call me by my full name and others wouldn’t. So, I’ve always had a healthy relationship with my name, but growing up it was harder for people to say it.

It wasn’t hard for me when that happened. I kind of came up with this little phrasing [to help]. I would tell people my name is like “oh, Kiki, ola.” After I said that, people were like, “I will never forget your name.” So I always tried to make it easy for people to say my name, but still say it correctly.

Honestly, with basketball, it’s just easier for people to say Kiki on the court. So for my teammates to be like, Okikiola, Okikiola — it’s just harder to say. But anything I do officially, like when I got drafted, I made sure the WNBA said Okikiola Iriafen. They didn’t call me Kiki. So, for the most part, I use Okikiola in my everyday life. But I respond to either. Some people actually are like, “I want to call you by your full name,” and I’m fine with that, too.

Eziyoda “Ezi” Magbegor

Team: Seattle Storm
Where she grew up: Melbourne, Australia
Family country of origin: Nigeria

I’m Nigerian and Isoko. My parents grew up in villages … in Delta State, so that’s kind of the background of where my name and where my culture, family and name comes from. I was actually named after my grandma, my dad’s mom, and her name was Eziyoda. She recently passed last year. She was 103 years old.

It’s very important to me to carry her name on, and when she passed away that was something that I told my dad. I know how much she meant to him. They were very close. He was the only son — he’s got seven sisters. The meaning of Eziyoda, it kind of translates to determination — like determined to live … win, thrive.

Obviously, people call me Ezi, and I tend to introduce myself as Ezi. I think growing up in Australia, not a lot of people could pronounce my full name, and so it was just concise. My parents call me Ezi as well, but I think it was just something that I went by and just stuck.

[When I was younger], because my name is Eziyoda, people would say, “Yoda” and compare it to Star Wars, which got really annoying and old and I didn’t like it at all. … When you’re young and one of the only Black kids aside from your sibling growing up at school, it’s kind of like you try and laugh it off. I was never one to correct people, in primary school at least.

In high school, I was better. If I didn’t like how they said my name, I would say that. It wasn’t more like a “picked on” thing — they just kind of made it a joke, and it was something that I went along with.

Now, I feel like, especially if I could go back, I would stop them from doing that every time because I think even now, I always make sure I pronounce someone’s name right. That’s their name, no matter how difficult it is to pronounce. I think it’s so important to call someone by the name that their parents gave them out of respect to them and their parents.

Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda

Team: WNBA free agent (previously Golden State Valkyries)
Where she grew up: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Country of origin: Democratic Republic of Congo (Luba tribe)

My mom is from the Democratic Republic of Congo so, of course, my name holds a lot of meaning. It means “a gift of luck.” Your name — where my mom comes from — your name is like a blessing. When somebody’s calling your name, they’re sort of blessing you in a sense. That was one other explanation she gave for the reason why she wanted me to have my name.

Growing up, my mom was always really strict with no nicknames, wanting people to call me by my full first name. At first, I was like, come on, it’s a lot to say, you know? As I grew older, especially in high school, I realized the value of my name, how much power it gives me and that it does hold a lot of importance.

My mom was the one raising us. I grew up around a lot of Congolese culture — eating cassava soup, okra soup and listening to music that my mom would listen to. She also used to talk to us in Swahili, but because I grew up in the Midwest, it never stuck with me. It was a little hard growing up in the Midwest with a name that was unfamiliar to people. Even though you want people to respect your name — and in today’s day and age a lot of people are very respectful of people’s names — back then kids didn’t know any better. They’re going to say what they want to say.

Having to deal with some kids not really respecting the fact that my name is Ndjakalenga, not Jackie or such, it wasn’t like I was bullied or anything, but sometimes there were just some people who would either just not call me anything or they would shorten my name.

Being proud of my name is important to me because I want people to be able to respect who they are and be able to have that self-confidence and not feel like they have to minimize themselves for the comfortability of others. I know, especially in the job realm, you may have some people who may pass up on you because of your name, but those opportunities aren’t meant to be, if they’re passing up on such an amazing person. I could shorten up my name, but there’s no point because I’ve stuck with it so long and my mom has instilled that belief that my name is a blessing for myself.

Nnemkadi “Nneka” Chinwe Ogwumike

Team: Los Angeles Sparks
Where she grew up: Tomball, Texas
Family country of origin: Nigeria (Igbo)

My first name was certainly in honor of my grandma on my mom’s side, who died a year before I was born. I went by Nneka very early on. I can’t even really remember if anyone’s ever called me Nnemkadi besides my family. It was just an easier way for people to pronounce my name, even though it’s not actually my name at all — the letters are shared in my full name, and Nneka is a very common name in Nigeria.

I’ve always loved my name. I think what I loved about my name was that I’m not sure if there’s anyone else who has my name. My parents gave me something that’s incredibly unique. I think I was trying to make certain people feel comfortable when they read my full name. I would tell them, “Oh, you can just call me Nneka.” But as I got older, I realized that my job isn’t to make others feel comfortable. There’s quite a few other names that aren’t of African descent that people don’t have an issue pronouncing. So, I leaned less into the comfortability, I guess, like public comfortability with my name.

What I realized was that not leaning into or at least growing into owning my name and where I’m from and identifying with what makes me who I am — it was closing me and a lot of others off to a group of people who may not know that they could be interested in some of the things that I’m involved with. As everyone likes to say, and it’s true: If you can’t see her, you can’t be her. There’s probably a lot of young girls who are either named Nneka or relate to the name Nneka that perhaps now — because I’ve owned my name — feel more confident in being able to believe that they can achieve certain things.

When Ogwumike attended Stanford from 2008-12, she was listed on the Cardinal team page as “Nnemkadi.” As a pro, she is listed as “Nneka.”

I don’t quite remember it necessarily being a conscious decision [to change the presentation of her name]. But when asked, I think in order to, kind of, I guess just avoid explanation, I would say, “Oh, you can just call me by Nneka.” I do feel, though, that we were groomed to be in a society where if you are different, you are to assimilate. I would be remiss to say that I didn’t have that as an underlying reason.

In Nigerian culture, our names are sentences. Our names are affirmations and declarations. That’s not something that should be lost just because someone wants to say it as easily as they may feel they need to.

I think that this is a very timely conversation as we’re looking at what’s happening with the Knicks and OG [Anunoby], you know? People are probably being exposed to aspects of culture they never otherwise thought they would be just simply by learning how to pronounce somebody’s name correctly.

The post For WNBA players of African descent, deciding what name to go by is a choice born of pride, preservation appeared first on Andscape.

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Andscape explores the intriguing teams, people and themes around the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

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It’s been a pretty good 48 hours to be Tyler Adams.

Actually, that might be underselling it.

Twenty-four hours earlier, Adams walked onto the pitch at Los Angeles Stadium for the United States Men’s National Team’s first World Cup match on American soil in more than three decades and helped announce the United States’ arrival with a historic 4-1 victory over Paraguay.

“The last 24 hours. I mean, where do you really start?” the 27-year-old midfielder told Andscape on Saturday. “I feel like the past few days, few weeks, few months, everyone’s just kind of been talking about expectations … asking, ‘What do you think it’s going to feel like? Does it feel like it’s happening?’

“And to be honest, I was like, ‘It doesn’t really feel like there’s a World Cup happening.’ But I think yesterday, walking out for the first time, was finally the realization that it’s a World Cup on home soil with friends and family in the stands. I have my brothers around me, the guys that we’ve been working together throughout this process since the last World Cup. It was an amazing moment.”

Then, somehow, the weekend got even more New York.

In the 48-hour blur leading up to the U.S. vs. Paraguay opener, Adams and the USMNT went viral for celebrating OG Anunoby’s improbable tip-in that helped secure NBA Finals Game 4 for the New York Knicks in the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history. The Knicks’ celebration turned into a dogpile inside the U.S. team hotel — a burst of joy washing over the team just as it prepared for its own defining moment.

“When Jalen Brunson pulled up that shot in the last five seconds of the game, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s going to make it.’ And then I saw OG run in and tip it in. That’s got to be one of the best plays in sports history — especially in New York,” said Adams, who was born and raised in Dutchess County, New York, about 50 miles north of New York City.

“Listen, if there’s anything that inspired me to play well in that first game, it was OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson. Honestly, it’s an inspiration sometimes when you can take a game and a performance like that, from a team that you grew up watching.”

Then Saturday, just minutes after Adams strode into the room for his conversation with Andscape, the Knicks — his Knicks, the team he grew up watching, the team that has tested generations of patience — were tipping off Game 5 with an opportunity to capture their first NBA title in 53 years.

Adams has that lightness of someone still processing a rare kind of sports euphoria that hits both parts of his identity at once: the consummate professional locked into a World Cup on home soil, and the kid from Wappingers Falls who still believes the Knicks play better when he turns the TV off.

“I’m very superstitious about things like that, so I turned [Game 4] off after the first half and I was like, ‘For sure they’re going to play better if I’m not watching,’” Adams said. “When the fourth quarter struck, I told everyone, ‘If they come within 10 points, then we’re going to win this game.’”

We all know what happened next.

There is something endearing about watching one of the most composed midfielders in the world talk like every other fan who has tried to negotiate with the sports gods from a couch. Perhaps there are similarities between the ethos of these two rosters that connect the Knicks and the USMNT in this moment: grit, toughness, and belief. They have taken their share of punches and kept moving forward.

But the deeper connection may be less about style and more about the way good teams are built. Both rosters have star power, but neither seems interested in being defined only by names. They were both methodically built, adding complementary pieces while focusing on personal relationships, trust and the kind of shared adversity that cannot be faked under the brightest spotlight in sports.

“We’ve grown up with one another. We’ve created this amazing culture where guys can come in, push each other, compete, step on each other’s toes and afterward, dap each other up, hug and laugh,” Adams said. “The banter is there. It’s Poch [USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino] coming in and creating this sense that no one is safe — that we need to compete with one another. But you treat everyone with respect.”

As Adams speaks, there is urgency in his voice. He understands that this version of the U.S. team is no longer asking to be taken seriously. It is trying to prove that it already should be. And for a player who has spent much of his career speaking in measured tones about process, growth and perspective, there is something direct about the way he frames this moment.

“We’re living in the moment. We understand that there’s no better time than now to show the world what we’re capable of doing on home soil.”

This is not the young U.S. roster of 2022 in Qatar. Adams is now joined by Chris Richards of Crystal Palace and Antonee Robinson of Fulham in the Premier League. Christian Pulisic of AC Milan and Weston McKennie of Juventus battle every week in Italy. Gio Reyna and Malik Tillman have been shaped by the physicality and demands of the German Bundesliga, while striker Folarin Balogun has found his footing in Ligue 1 with Monaco.

For the uninitiated, this is a roster of players from top international clubs entering the prime of their careers — a roster that is no longer simply excited to be part of the conversation, a roster that, after one emphatic opening performance, has given American fans permission to think bigger.

“Playing in the Premier League week in and week out is going to prepare you for any moment that you have to have in your career.” said Adams, who this season helped his club team AFC Bournemouth qualify for European competition for the first time in its 127-year history. “I think that’s the mentality. And I think that’s why we’ve taken a step in our development. We can’t let our foot off the gas. The best teams in the world don’t let their foot off the gas, whether at the club or international level. We have a bunch of dogs on our team, and we’re going for it.”

A few hours after we spoke, Adams watched the Knicks finish the job during a team barbecue at sunset, somewhere high above the Pacific in Orange County. It was one of those scenes that felt surreal and completely normal at the same time. Pulisic and McKennie posed for pictures. Kids ran across the artificial turf as the sun dropped slowly into the water.

Adams wore a Jalen Brunson T-shirt and posted to Instagram like every other long-suffering Knicks fan who had waited his whole life for this exact night. Maybe that is the part that makes Adams — and this team — so easy to root for.

The following is Adams’ sixth diary with Andscape, told June 13 in California, just 24 hours after the USMNT’s opening-round victory.

THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE

I had experienced what 2022 was like in Qatar. [Friday] wasn’t my first World Cup game. And I think that experience allowed me to be in the moment as just being another game, obviously one with more pressure. But I looked at this game as a privilege — to play in your second World Cup, to be walking out with some guys that you shared the field with in Qatar and some guys having their first experience.

I want to be that constant in the team no matter what … understanding that I’ve gone through the emotions before. I know what the circumstances are like, so nothing was going to faze me. I just felt super comfortable in that moment, being present in that moment. And I think that’s what allowed me to just be super comfortable with my ability to play on the field, to look in the stands, see my family, my kids, those kinds of things I take with a lot of appreciation.

I think it was normal. I told some of the guys, “Whatever you feel, that’s OK.” Everyone’s going to deal with the circumstance in a completely different way. Before my first game in Qatar, I didn’t know what to expect. I was super anxious. Nervous, just feeling excitement. A bunch of different emotions. I didn’t really know how to cope with that. And then when the whistle blew for the first game, it was like just another game. I was able to settle in. I told the new players, “Once this whistle blows, you guys are going to be able to go through your emotions and you’re going to be able to settle in.”

And if you don’t settle in — I’ll be there. The other guys will be there. I don’t know what they were feeling, and I think it’s one of those things that you can’t tell someone what they’re going to feel or what to expect. They just have to go through it.

REPRESENTING YOUR COUNTRY

Whenever the Olympics are going on or there’s another sport where athletes are representing their nation, you see the support that they get. And it did not disappoint when we walked out yesterday. I can genuinely say, looking in that stadium, that was the best support I’ve ever seen.

It made me incredibly proud to be able to represent the U.S. in that moment and just know that we have that many people supporting us. It provides that extra motivation and that extra inspiration. We want to inspire these next generation of people, kids, or whoever, to create them into soccer fans. And there’s no better event to do that than now.

ON FOLARIN BALOGUN

When Gregg Berhalter first took over the national team in 2018, Flo was starting to get integrated into the national team. Now he is a lot more mature, a lot more seasoned, a lot more understanding of the version of exactly what he needs to be every single game.

He’s a niche of a player in the world, and he’s dynamic. He can hold the ball up. He’s not massively big or tall, but he’s strong. He has the ability to run in behind defenders. When you look at our team and how dynamic we are, he fits in perfectly. The season that he’s had in Monaco obviously speaks volumes to what he’s capable of doing. That confidence has clearly translated into the national team. When you get him the ball around the box, he is so efficient. In our first match, he had two or three chances and he had two goals. That’s exactly what we need in the biggest moments.

I felt like in 2022, that’s what we were missing a little bit at times. We were creating a volume of chances, but we weren’t necessarily putting the ball in the back of the net. That comes with us maybe being a little bit more inexperienced, whereas now I think we’re just more ready for the moment.

CHRIS RICHARDS

Chris is an important part of the team. It’s sad that injury kept him out of the last World Cup, as he was more than ready and prepared to be able to play a massive role. That being said, playing in the Premier League week in and week out is going to prepare you for any moment that you may have in your career, and you could tell that in the moments that we need him the most — he steps in and plays a vital role.

He just adds this presence in the back line — aerially, winning duels, putting in tackles — so I can be even more aggressive in what I do and how I hunt for the ball. I can try to make certain plays because I know I have cover behind me. We obviously balance well together, we have a lot of chemistry, and we’ve played a lot of games together.

GIO REYNA

People probably don’t understand how close Gio and I are — with both of us being from New York. It’s kind of like we’re always on the same wavelength and we grew up around each other. I always heard about him, and he probably heard about me. He was at NYCFC. I was at Red Bull. We just jelled together. We always seem to find each other in the right groove, in the right moment. When he comes into the game, he’s a special player, and I think people are starting to realize it again. People kind of speak a little bit disrespectful on his name sometimes, but what that kid is capable of with the ball at his feet — he’s in the top echelon in the world. So, he adds a different dimension to the way that we play, and he’s going to be a critical player.

REST AND RECOVERY

I’ll take all the rest that I can get in between games. With the heat, with the climate, continuously training, and after enduring a really long season of competition in the Premier League, I think [having longer periods of time off between games] is nice. And I think when you have momentum, it allows you to have these days to disconnect.

Like for instance, tomorrow we have off completely off. I like being able to disconnect and have a day off, while [we] still have four days to prepare for a game. I think that does wonders for our team. It will allow us to recover and get the best out of every single guy. So I’m looking forward to Australia [on Friday], but I’ve again found a really good balance as I’ve gone a little bit older to be able to disconnect.

I’ll put the phone down, hang out with the family. And then when it’s time to go back to work on Monday, it’s time to go back to work.

BELIEF AND EMOTIONS

I was super excited for a lot of the guys that had their first experience and learning what a World Cup is like. We really believe and understand this process — that we’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs and when people have doubted us. This is exactly the performance we needed to put in. We need to have our eyes set on bigger things without getting too ahead of ourselves. We need to do that every single game. That’s the only way that we can be successful. So again, you can’t let our foot off the gas even 5%.

If you do that, you’re not going to be able to beat Australia. You’re not going to be able to beat Turkey. And that’s our goal at the end of the day: win the games that we need to win. That’s the most important thing.

I haven’t looked at what anyone says. I haven’t looked about what anyone’s posted. For me, it’s about what is in that locker room as a collective. And what we have is belief. We need to continue believing.

We want to go as far as we can, show how many good-quality players we have within the group, and inspire the next generation.

ON THE KNICKS

I grew up going to Knicks games when the Knicks weren’t going to win anything, or they weren’t even going to make the playoffs. Now to see that New York has a lot of players that represent what the city means — the diversity, the energy, the character — I think that means a lot more to the city. And if they’re able to raise a championship — they’ll get everything in New York for free for the rest of their lives, I’m sure. So I’m trying to follow that path in some capacity, man.

PHYSICAL PLAY

The game is an emotional game. There’s so many ups and downs throughout: happy, excited, mad, angry, whatever you want to call it. That being said, you need to be able to control your emotions in the biggest moments, because ultimately that’s what decides the games.

I think when you get angry and take it out on someone, you can get a stupid yellow or stupid red card, then you end up missing games. In tournaments like this, you need your most valuable players on the field at all times. So for me, someone that does get a little bit feisty and chippy at times — you have to be smart. You need to be communicating with the referee in situations like that and make sure they have an understanding with you and the way that you play. You need an understanding of what they’re going to tolerate. But also to make sure your teammates understand what the game requires as well, because, if I’m on a yellow [card] and I have an opportunity to miss a game, there’s other guys that need to make tackles and make tactical fouls and do these kinds of things.

So you just have to be clever in those situations, and I think that’s what I’ve learned over the years. But for guys that it’s their first rodeo, they need to understand what the game requires. It gets spicy; do you know what I mean? So if things get physical, that’s what it is, obviously in the safest way. You’re not going out trying to injure anybody or do anything stupid, but you got to play the game and you got to be clever.

The post Tyler Adams World Cup diary: ‘We can’t let our foot off the gas’ appeared first on Andscape.

Man Gets Closer to Receiving $1.2 Million After Quavo Slapped Him
Trent Fitzgerald
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CHICAGO – The 2026 NBA draft is expected to be highlighted by top-five prospects AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson. Years from now, though, Darius Acuff Jr. expects to be talked about first when the Class of 2026 is mentioned.

“Five years from now they will say I was the best player that was going to come out, for sure,” Acuff told Andscape on May 11 during the NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago. “Some people are going to be surprised. But some people in the back of their minds are probably [going to be] saying, ‘We probably should have been saying this.’

Acuff said he doesn’t have an opinion on what people say.

“My mindset is that I’m gonna be the best player, for sure,” he said. “That’s just the way I’m carrying it throughout my whole career.”

Acuff averaged 23.5 points, 6.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game as a freshman at the University of Arkansas last season. He was the 2026 Bob Cousy Award winner as the nation’s best college point guard, and averaged 30.2 points in five postseason contests. A consensus first-team All-American, Acuff also swept Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors, and was SEC tournament MVP.

A longtime NBA scout told Andscape that he didn’t expect Acuff to get past the Kings in the draft.

Coincidentally, Darius Acuff Sr., played at Eastern Kentucky University for then-head coach Scott Perry, who is the Sacramento Kings’ general manager.

Like father, like son, both Acuffs share a stoic mentality and competitive fire on the court.

“That’s one of our family traits,” Acuff Sr. told Andscape. “If you have a chance to meet some of my family, we’re all the same. We don’t show emotions a lot, but we mean business. So, yeah, that’s kind of like a family trait.

“And on top of me [meaning business], just being on you about a lot of stuff — just letting him know, ‘Don’t let nobody see you sweat. Don’t let nobody speed you up. Don’t let nobody rattle you. Just keep the same face, the same mindset.’”

Andscape is celebrating Father’s Day on Sunday with a Q&A series including some of the 2026 NBA draft’s top prospects and their fathers. The first day of the draft is Tuesday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The fathers and sons who participated include the Acuffs; former Tennessee forward Nate Ament and his father, Albert Ament; former Duke center Cameron Boozer and his father, former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer; former Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. and his father, Christopher Brown; former Brigham Young forward AJ Dybantsa and his father, Anicet “Ace” Dybantsa Sr.; and former Houston guard Kingston Flemings and his father, Demetric “Dee” Flemings.

In this Q&A series, the fathers and soon-to-be-drafted sons discuss their relationship through basketball, life lessons, the perceptions of Black fatherhood, their excitement and anxiety toward the draft, what NBA teams are getting on and off the court, and much more.

When do you remember putting on ball in [your son’s] hands for the first time?

Acuff Sr.: I probably put the ball in his hands when he was born, because it’s kind of like the makeup for our family. Everybody is going to play basketball. The first time I took him to the gym actually organized was probably like about 3 or 4 years old. …

I say it all the time: Me and my wife were blessed. It seemed like he came out the womb ready to go, obsessed with the game, for sure.

When do you first recall falling in love with basketball that your remember?

Acuff Jr.: Probably around middle school. When I started traveling, it got away from just seeing different cities on the AAU circuit. It got way more fun, for sure.

What kind of influence did being from a city in Detroit that is known for having great basketball players?

Acuff Jr.: It had a lot of influence. That is where it started in local tournaments. I was playing in tournaments all over Michigan and trying to win every tournament, competing with everybody. There was never no easy game. So just learning from Detroit. That’s a great feeling.

You have any memories of watching your father play?

Acuff Jr.: No. His tapes ain’t nowhere.

Acuff Sr.: They got rid of my tapes, man. It’s a few out there, though. But I don’t know what happened to them. The internet wasn’t popping in my day. I would hope we can find some of my Eastern Kentucky tapes.

What did you know about your father as a ballplayer?

Acuff Jr.: He nice. I heard he was cold. I heard he was similar to me with the same attributes. We both move the same. He had more hops than me, according to everybody. He was a guard dunker. He probably got me [athletically], based on what I’ve seen. He was smart, for sure. That’s what I heard from a lot of people. He was a smart player who always got his teammates involved. But he could score if they needed him to.

Was it tough love with your son in basketball?

Acuff Sr.: Always. It was me just introducing him to the game. I always told him, ‘If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it the right way. It’s not going to be any shortcuts or anything.’ So, I was always tough on him, for sure.

Did he always take to it?

Acuff Sr.: Always. Never went home and complained to his mom about anything. We had times in the gym going at it back and forth. But once we get in the car, it’s father and son again.

What made you accept the tough love?

Acuff Jr: He knew what he was talking about. Over the years, you could see my game progressing, working. And he was the one that took me through all this stuff, so I knew I had to listen to him. He was my coach at the same time, too. So, of course, there was a lot of tough moments. But he didn’t teach me to be soft. So, I wasn’t going home complaining or none of that. I would just go upstairs and think about what I can do better tomorrow.

If anything, I didn’t want to go somewhere else. I wanted to go to the gym. That was always the first choice.

Can you describe what it’s like to be a Black father?

Acuff Sr.: It’s everything. I didn’t have my dad growing up. Me and my brothers and sister didn’t have our dad. So, I just wanted to be everything for him. Just be there for him through the ups and downs. And it’s great that I can share this with other Black fathers and hopefully they can follow the path that we have paved the way for. So, it’s been a blessing. It’s great.

What do you think is the perception of Black fathers?

Acuff Sr.: There are a lot of different perceptions out there. We don’t really pay attention to those things. We know what we want as a family. We’re kind of like straightforward, so we kind of know what we want. We don’t really follow perceptions or anything like that.

You have a young Black son in Detroit. He can’t walk anywhere now without somebody recognizing him. What kind of things have you tried to instill in him to protect him?

Acuff Sr.: The main thing me and his mom instill in him is to just be a leader. Don’t be a follower. No matter if it’s your family members or friends in school. Always lead by example and be a stand-up guy.

The draft is two days after Father’s Day. When I say that to you, what comes to mind?

Acuff Sr.: That’s going to be the greatest Father’s Day gift ever. I’ve always just prayed and just hoped that he can stay healthy enough to live out his dreams. I’ve stayed healthy enough to see him exceed that. So, it’s great.

What does celebrating your dad on Father’s Day mean to you?

Acuff Jr.: Everything. That whole month [June] has been for us as a family. His birthday month, Father’s Day. My granddad, his birthday the day after his. My sister’s birthday is that month. So that whole month is going to be a great one for us as a family. And I’m just proud of us as a family. We stuck together through it all, for sure. We still got way more to go. But I definitely love them all for sticking with me.

What most excites you most about the NBA draft? And what brings you anxiety about that day?

Acuff Jr.: What excites me most? Just knowing that I can change my family’s life. I was telling them, just being the first to do something in the family to make the league, that’s probably my biggest mindset right now. Just putting on for them everyday. I’m excited to hear my name called. Our last name is legendary where we’re from. So just to hear it being on the stage, that would be a great feeling.

As far as anxiety, I don’t really think I got like anxiety. But I’m excited, for sure. We talk about it on a personal level. It gets crazy sometimes, but at the end of the day, it’s business. But when we’re by ourselves, a lot of emotions are probably going to come out, for sure. There is a lot of excitement about it. We talk about it everyday, for sure.

What do you think it will be like to step on that NBA draft stage?

Acuff Jr.: Crazy. He’ll tell you. I watched a recent draft — the whole draft just to see what you do, introductions, all that. I’m just trying to see what’s the movement you’re supposed to do. But it’s crazy. It’s gonna be a dream come true just to shake [NBA] commissioner [Adam Silver’s] hand. That’s everybody’s dream. Walking across [the stage], that’s something you dream of. Just to see it happen is definitely going to be a great feeling.

As you interview with teams and they ask, ‘What Darius are we getting on and off the court?’ what do you tell them?

Acuff Jr.: I tell them you’re two different people. On the court, I’m nobody’s friend. I’m only [friends] with my teammates and my coaches. Everybody else, I don’t really know. Just a killer, for sure. In all, I’m a winning player, though. I want to win a lot at the next level. That’s very important.

And off the court, just a great person. No matter who you are, I’ll help you out if you need something. You see somebody in the grocery store that can’t do something, you just help him out. I just want to be known as one of those guys, for sure.

When he gets drafted to an NBA team, wherever that is, what of your teachings do you think he’s going to take with him?

Acuff Sr.: His leadership. Him being a role model. We’re big on the youth in our city. So just him being a great role model to the kid that’s trying to accomplish the same thing he’s trying to or about to accomplish.

How much pride do you have in your last name and the ‘Junior’ in it?

Acuff Jr.: Our last name, if you ask anybody in Detroit, they probably know who you are talking about. And I ain’t even talking about me. It started way before me. It started way before him. Our family is just legendary. We stick together. We’ve been sticking together throughout. Since I’ve been born, of course. I can tell they always have been close as a family. We support each other no matter what.

That Junior, I take pride in it. I write it down everywhere. Sometimes when people put something out and it’s just my last name, I make them change it to Junior because I take pride in it. It’s my dad. He’s been with me every step of the way. I’m not going to let anyone disrespect our name. He’s a Senior. I’m a Junior.

When your son is in that NBA uniform with your last name on the back with ‘Acuff Jr.’ it represents you in two ways. What does that mean to you?

Acuff Sr.: It’s going to be big for me, and all the things that me and my family went through as far as the sport. So, it’s going to mean a lot. It’s probably going to be a little emotional the first time he puts the jersey on, as it was when he did it at Arkansas.

It’s gonna be a great feeling. I can’t explain the emotions. I don’t know what to expect as far as my reaction, but I know it’s gonna be a great feeling, for sure.

How did you help him navigate the NIL space, the one-and-done space, the social media space? That is a lot for a teenager to handle. What was your guidance through that part?

Acuff Sr.: Just keeping the main thing the main thing in the gym. He comes from work. That’s what he’s always been about. That’s what I’ve always been about as far as teaching him the game. Money, it’s going to be there. But you got to take pride in what you’re trying to accomplish.

What is it like for him to be your son?

Acuff Sr.: It’s great. Me and my wife, we’re just so lucky to have a son like him. Of course, my daughter, too. He’s a great kid. He’s always been a great kid. He’s never given us any problems. So, we’re just thankful that he’s who he’s become, for sure.

The post Darius Acuff Jr. accepts ‘tough love’ from father, turns into top NBA draft prospect appeared first on Andscape.

No matter the industry, careers are rarely built in isolation. Often someone offers guidance or encouragement, or simply makes room at the table for the person coming up behind them.

During NBA Finals week in New York, Monica McNutt, an ESPN analyst for the NBA, WNBA and college basketball, created a space to celebrate those connections.

Inside Afro-Caribbean restaurant Tatiana, women from across sports, media, business and culture gathered for “Center Court,” an intimate dinner centered on community and the relationships that help shape careers long before the spotlight arrives.

At the center of the evening was a tribute to veteran ESPN and ABC reporter Lisa Salters and ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke, two women whose careers have served as a blueprint for many of the journalists, executives, athletes and creators in the room. Their recognition set the tone for a night focused on encouragement and paying it forward.

For McNutt, the importance of those connections is personal. Before joining ESPN, she posted her broadcasting reel online and received encouragement from women she admired, including Jemele Hill, Maria Taylor and LaChina Robinson.

“Even just the ‘Yes, you got it, girl’ — that little push from women I admired was a big deal,” McNutt said. “Those women are friends to this day.”

Those experiences helped shape her approach to building community and influenced the vision behind “Center Court.”

“I think we’re in a beautiful time in sports media where we can celebrate one another, root for one another, and be honest about what we want as well,” McNutt said.

For McNutt, gatherings like this are a way to continue that cycle of encouragement. That spirit resonated with attendees.

“During events like this, even on this large stage during the Finals, for all of us to come together and uplift one another is really important,” said LaTonya Story, founder of The Sports Power Brunch and CEO of LPS Consulting PR. “All of us come together, celebrate, love and motivate one another.”

For Story, that belief is rooted in her own journey. She pointed to a college professor who saw her potential before she did.

“She took a liking to me, she believed in me, she supported me, and she encouraged me,” Story said. “She just knew I could be anything I wanted to do if I set my mind to it.”

Though the paths that brought the women together were different, a common thread ran through many of their stories: Long before the accolades, titles and opportunities, there was someone who offered support at the right moment, opened a door or simply believed in them.

That made the evening’s recognition of Salters and Burke especially meaningful. Their careers reflect what can happen when talent meets opportunity, and their impact continues to ripple across the next generation.

Whether it was a mentor, a professor, a colleague or a friend, many of the stories shared throughout the evening traced back to someone who helped make the journey easier. In that way, “Center Court” was more than a celebration of the women in the room. It was a tribute to the people who helped them get there and the connections that continue to carry them forward.

The post A different kind of assist: The connections that carry us appeared first on Andscape.

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SAN ANTONIO — The long-awaited championship stage was set for the New York Knicks on Saturday night. A crying Tracy Morgan, a gleeful Spike Lee and other celebrity Knicks fans celebrated with the players. They were eager to see the NBA championship trophy that had eluded the Knicks for 53 years.

In the midst of the Knicks’ stunning fiesta in the Alamo City, Knicks head coach Mike Brown calmly secured a courtside seat for his 84-year-old mother, Jean, to enjoy the coronation her son spearheaded.

Sitting comfortably next to her daughter, Catana, Mama Brown could not have been prouder of her son’s resilience. Mike Brown overcame four firings as an NBA head coach before leading the Knicks to their first title since 1973.

“Mike is amazing. You never know what he can do at any given time,” Jean Brown told Andscape. “He works and works and works. Just like the seasons, they change over time. Michael kept on keeping on until he reached the mountaintop. That’s why he got there. God’s blessing.

“Everybody helped him. I’m not saying there wasn’t help. But he finally has his own ring.”

The Knicks clinched the NBA title by defeating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. San Antonio also happens to be the home of Brown’s parents, his three siblings, Catana Brown, Anthony Brown and Mika Guiragossian, and their children. They followed him to San Antonio during his stint as a Spurs assistant coach from 2000-03 and never left.

Anthony Brown, a former NFL offensive lineman, said about 20 family members, including Mike Brown’s wife, Rochelle Ledesma, and her two children, were all in attendance. Half joking, half serious, Mike Brown said before the NBA Finals that he would save money by playing against the Spurs, since his family wouldn’t have to travel.

Brown, 56, was appreciative of his family’s presence and support.

“It’s awesome having family around,” Mike Brown said before Game 5. “Look, I’m a big family guy. To be able to have that support, whether you’re at home or on the road, and that love for anybody, it can uplift them. Whether you win or you lose, they don’t care. They just want to be there for you, and they want to support you. It’s always good to have that around, especially being in San Antonio.”

Mike Brown’s 85-year-old father, Bobby, watched the game from his San Antonio home alongside his white labradoodle, because he was not physically able to attend. Cameron Brown, Mike’s youngest son, also couldn’t attend because of a prior commitment.

But for the large Brown contingent in attendance, it was a night they will never forget. Their beloved Michael Burton Brown earned his first championship ring in his 12th season as an NBA head coach, more than 20 years since his NBA head coaching debut.

“We all wouldn’t have been able to experience it if it was in New York,” Anthony Brown told Andscape. “That was not going to happen. It’s ironic that he’s in New York playing the Spurs in San Antonio. It’s crazy. We were lucky to see this big game. It was great. The stars aligned.”

Catana Brown said she “knew he was going to do it,” noting to Andscape that her brother “never has doubted his faith that he was going to do it. The basketball gods worked it out with the way he approaches his job, the way that he coaches, the way the team came together. He was being a general out there.”

Said Mika Guiragossian to Andscape: “I am just proud of my brother. He deserves it. He’s been through a lot and it shows that he is a great coach. I’m just so glad that he finally won an NBA championship as a head coach. That can’t leave him.”

An unforgettable night for Mike Brown’s family

To understand Mike Brown as a meticulous coach and a fun-loving person off the court, look no further than his parents.

Bobby Brown served in the Air Force for 26 years and raised his children with his wife on bases in Japan, the United States and Germany. That military upbringing played a major role in Mike being disciplined, detail-oriented, hardworking and accountable in his coaching approach. He also learned the importance of community and helping the less fortunate.

With his brother, his brother’s wife, Shannon Brown, and Guiragossian watching on from the court, Mike enthusiastically FaceTimed his father after the Knicks won the Finals.

“He couldn’t hear because it was so loud, but he is so happy. Mike told my dad he was happy, he loved him and he looked forward to seeing him,” Anthony Brown said.

Said Mike Brown about his father before Game 5: “He definitely has that Air Force background. I think that’s where I got my OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder] from. Dad, sorry. He’s pretty meticulous with whatever he goes about in his business.”

Jean Brown was a schoolteacher for the Department of Defense Dependent Schools, a network of overseas schools managed by the Department of Defense Education Activity that serve children of active-duty military and civilian Department of Defense personnel. Anthony Brown described his mother as “caring, outgoing, understanding, extroverted and owning an ability to relate with anyone and everyone.” She still takes Zumba classes at age 84 and can walk for miles.

Mike Brown has a lot of his mother’s personality, as he is known to talk to a random basketball fan for 10 minutes, can be the life of the party among friends, and loves long drives on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. He even wore rapper Fat Joe’s expensive gold chain and pendant in celebration after winning the title.

“They are both outgoing, extroverts, caring, understanding,” Anthony Brown told Andscape. “My mom is the life of the party. She has a gift of gab. Mike is not a talker like my mom, but he can talk to people from all walks of life and make them feel comfortable. And on occasion, he can show her personality. She might be 84, but she’s like 24.”

Mike Brown’s coaching history: ‘He just kept going’

After graduating from high school in Germany, Mike Brown was a star guard at Mesa Community College (Ariz.) from 1988-90 and then for the University of San Diego from 1990-92.

Then-San Diego men’s basketball head coach Hank Egan helped Brown land a video internship under then-Denver Nuggets president and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff in the summer of 1992. Bickerstaff was so impressed with Brown’s hard work and meticulous video breakdowns that he offered him a full-time job.

Brown initially turned down the offer, because he promised his mother that he would finish his college degree. Bickerstaff, however, held the job for Brown until he could return in mid-December 1992 after graduating.

In 1997, Brown earned his first NBA assistant coaching job, heading to Washington, D.C., to reunite with Bickerstaff, who had become the Wizards’ head coach.

Nearly 30 years later, a thankful Brown hasn’t forgotten Bickerstaff’s role in his career — Brown was one of the speakers when the Black Coaches Association honored Bickerstaff with an excellence award last summer, and he broke down and cried during his speech.

But Brown’s family also saw all the hard work he put in to make the climb from video intern to head coach.

“The way he came into the league was breaking down videos and going to games,” Catana Brown said with amazement about her brother. “He started from the bottom, the very bottom, doing an internship. I remembered he had a pickup truck. It was red. The windows had to be rolled down. He had a cassette player.

“He just kept going. He kept going and never quit.”

After subsequent assistant coaching stops with San Antonio and Indiana, Brown became a head coach for the first time in 2005 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He coached LeBron James and Cleveland to their first NBA Finals in 2007, only to be swept by the Spurs. The 2009 NBA Coach of the Year was fired after the 2009-10 campaign, despite having led the Cavs to consecutive NBA-best marks of 66 and 61 wins over the past two seasons.

Brown was next hired to fill the legendary coaching shoes of Phil Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers before the lockout-shortened 2011-12 NBA season. He coached the Lakers to a 45-21 record and a second-round playoff appearance with the likes of future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. But after starting the 2012-13 season 1-4, Brown was fired on Nov. 8, 2012.

He returned to the Cavs the following season but went just 33-49, missing the playoffs and being fired again.

After a couple of years away from the sidelines, Brown took a job that would turn out to be the longest tenure of his career thus far: associate head coach for the Golden State Warriors, under head coach Steve Kerr.

Brown became content during his six seasons living in San Francisco from 2016-22, adding three more championship rings to the one he won as a Spurs assistant in 2003.

But 10 years after his last head coaching gig, Brown decided to be a leading man again, becoming the Sacramento Kings head coach on May 9, 2022. He successfully coached the rebuilding Kings to a 48-34 record during the 2022-23 season and the team’s first playoff appearance since 2006.

“I obviously interviewed a couple times [for other NBA jobs], didn’t get them,” Mike Brown said before Game 5. “Then Sacramento came. That gave me an opportunity, which I appreciate.”

The unanimous 2023 NBA Coach of the Year was rewarded with a three-year, $25.5 million extension. Kings fans also fell in love with Brown, who was a regular at local high school football and basketball games and restaurants. At that time, Brown loved Sacramento so much that he was in the process of getting a new home.

His parents were in town in Sacramento on Dec. 27, 2024, with the Kings in the midst of a five-game losing streak and a 13-18 start to the season. Brown talked to the media at practice that day and was en route to the airport for a road trip to play the Lakers when he got an emotional call from then-Kings general manager Monte McNair, who told him he was fired.

So, instead of going to Los Angeles, he returned home after being fired for the fourth time. Brown’s mother being in town was great timing; she offered words of wisdom to lessen the pain.

“There is a reason for every season in our lives,” Jean Brown said. “When something happens in our lives, it happens for a reason. A lot of times when things happen, it’s time to change. I told him, ‘That door closed. Don’t look back. Look forward. The doors will open, and you’ll walk through. You’ll never know what will be there when you walk through.’ ”

Instead of sitting around Sacramento sulking, Ledesma coerced her husband into traveling the globe to take their minds off of the Kings fiasco.

In 2025, they went to an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight and a pro basketball game in Australia. They enjoyed authentic Mexican food, rented a yacht and listened to mariachi music in Puerto Vallarta, they visited friends in San Francisco, and much more.

Three months after the 2024-25 NBA season ended, Brown received interest from the New York Knicks.

“After I got fired, I wasn’t thinking about it, because my wife and I were running all over the world,” Brown said. “We were in Sydney, we were in New York, Mexico, St. Barts. Next thing I know, they’re asking me to interview here.”

Brown wasn’t the Knicks’ first choice for their head coach opening last offseason. But once hired, he quickly showed promise, leading the team to a 2025 NBA Cup title over the Spurs in December.

However, New York also had a pair of four-game losing streaks during a 2-9 stretch in January. It took time for Brown, forward Karl-Anthony Towns and guard Josh Hart to get on the same page. When the Knicks trailed 2-1 in their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks, Brown’s job was on the line, sources told Andscape.

While Brown does his best to stay insulated from media talk and rumors, his family is familiar with the negative noise.

Brown, however, got the last laugh with the title.

“All the doubt and the noise out there, all of them can be quiet about Mike Brown,” Anthony Brown said. “I don’t want to hear nothing negative about Mike Brown ever again. He won a championship — an NBA championship. I don’t want to hear nothing negative about people saying he can’t be a head coach, [instead] thinking that he is a great lead assistant. All that noise, they can take all that. He got the NBA championship. Not many people can say that.”

Elijah Brown, Mike Brown’s eldest son, told Andscape: “He was doubted the whole year, and he prevailed. He went into the season with a plan. Not a lot of people believed it. Not a lot of people saw the vision. Even me, I doubted him in terms of wins and losses. I was on him a lot. But he had a vision and I have to give him credit.”

How Mike Brown’s family keeps him grounded

Brown spent a lot of time with his family during the course of the postseason. He, his Philadelphia-native mother and Guiragossian enjoyed a mini family reunion when they visited the City of Brotherly Love during the Knicks’ second-round series against the 76ers. Ledesma also attended Eastern Conference finals games, and Brown spent time in San Antonio with his parents and family at a steakhouse before the start of the NBA Finals.

But on the eve of Game 5 on June 12, Brown had a quiet night with his wife and two teenage stepchildren in San Antonio like they typically do during the regular season.

“We just wanted to get some rest and get ready for the game,” Ledesma said. “Locked in.”

Mike Brown has two biological sons who were sports stars in their own right. Elijah Brown was a guard in the G League and shared the backcourt at the University of Oregon with Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard; Cameron Brown is a defensive quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers after setting records as a defensive end at Case Western Reserve University.

With all due respect to his sons, wife, parents and other family members, the love of Mike Brown’s life is his grandson, Iverson Brown. It’s not uncommon for the Knicks head coach to build his schedule around spending time with Iverson, Elijah’s son. After winning the NBA championship, Brown held his 3-year-old grandson in his arms during the trophy presentation and during an ESPN interview with host Scott Van Pelt.

“I knew my dad was going to do that,” Elijah Brown said. “My son don’t even know what he is experiencing right now. He is going to look back at pictures and videos a long time from now and understand. But I’m just happy for my dad to be up there and win it. His grandson is his favorite person in the world. To be up there with his grandson is an all-time high. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

Mike Brown wasn’t an NBA player, let alone a star. He started his NBA career as an unpaid intern in the video room. Brown was fired four times as an NBA head coach.

Now, he is an NBA champion.

Watching his dad holding his son on the grandest NBA stage, Elijah Brown beamed with pride.

“I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs with my father,” Elijah Brown said. “It’s sweet for it to come around full circle to win in San Antonio with the New York Knicks in the mecca of basketball. …

“My dad is very quiet, reserved. So, I got to be loud for him a little bit. I told him, ‘I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. This is 30-plus years.’ Assistant [coach] title is cool, but for him to do it as a head coach, I’m really proud and happy for him.”

So, what can be learned from Mike Brown’s journey?

“He’s had some good times. He’s had some really rough times,” Catana Brown said. “And every time he’s had a rough time, dude gets back up, finds something and makes it happen.”

As Guiragossian put it: “Never give up. Keep pushing. Keep fighting.”

The post ‘He deserves it’: Knicks coach Mike Brown’s proud family celebrating his NBA Finals win appeared first on Andscape.

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Andscape columnist William C. Rhoden explores the intriguing teams, people and themes around the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

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From Cafe Ru Dix, a Brooklyn-based Senegalese restaurant, Andscape columnist William Rhoden and ESPN FC host Alexis Nunes explore why the World Cup can turn one matchup into a global cultural moment.

Senegal vs. France brings back memories of Senegal’s 1-0 upset in 2002, but the conversation also reaches deeper into soccer”s spread through colonization, the pride of African nations, and the talent pipeline that shapes European teams. With food on the table and fans in mind, the preview frames the match as a story about identity, history, and the power of the world’s most-watched sport.

The post Andscape at the World Cup: Why Senegal vs. France means more than soccer appeared first on Andscape.

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Andscape columnist William C. Rhoden explores the intriguing teams, people and themes around the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

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Cape Verde’s first trip to the World Cup is more than a soccer milestone; it is a celebration that stretches from the islands off West Africa to the team’s training base in Rhode Island.

Andscape columnist William C. Rhoden visits a Cape Verdean send-off in Pawtucket as fans, local organizers, and Columbus Crew defender Steven Moreira reflect on what this moment means for a country and its global community. The scenes and interviews capture the pride of a diaspora, the thrill of an underdog story, and the joy around a national team making history on the world’s biggest stage. It is about who gets to feel seen when a small nation steps into a massive tournament.

The post Why Cape Verde’s World Cup first means so much appeared first on Andscape.