BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Cape Town Tigers assistant coach Vincent Luyanda Ntunja is working with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the NBA Summer League. While he is an example of what the country has to offer the world, he’s focused on improving the local basketball scene.
Vincent Luyanda Ntunja, a basketball player-turned-coach from Gugulethu in Cape Town, has joined the Minnesota Timberwolves for the NBA Summer League-Africa coaches programme.
The Cape Town Tigers assistant coach is in the US, working on the programme that’s aimed at building capacity and contributing to the growth of the game in Africa.
Ntunja was exposed to the sports industry at a young age. His father, Boyce “Chu-boy” Griffiths, was a well-known local soccer star. Tagging along to every game with his father, little Ntunja knew he was born to be an athlete. But his father was brutally stabbed by an obsessed fan from an opposing team before he could experience his son’s stardom.
Ntunja, who started off as a soccer player to keep the memory of his father alive, knew from an early age that he would find his purpose in the sports industry rather than following academic pursuits, which he believed would lead him into a corporate career.
He eventually graduated from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology with a degree in sports tourism, which allowed him to escape the routine of a nine-to-five job to pursue a successful career in sport.
Image: Twitter
