Kingsley Obiekwe: "Competing at FIBA level is the reason why I work every day"
How are Kingsley beginnings with basketball? Love at first sight, or is it a sport you get to experience little by little?
My beginnings in basketball at the time were not at first sight, since despite liking all sports, the most frequent among youth at that age was football. And although I was not bad at all, my father chose to force me to switch to basketball, until now. Considering that I started quite young around 10 years old.
Your home, Torrejón de Ardoz, has become one of the most multicultural areas in all of Spain. How has it been growing up in the city? What does it mean to you to be a torrejonero?
For me I feel pride to represent Torrejón. Although we know that it is a city, it has always been recognized as a working class neighborhood, we are the humble area that struggles and that is to be proud, to belong to the municipality.
Tell us more about your memories at the academy playing for TBS. What do you miss about those moments?
The TBS academy meant my beginnings, there I began to train until I became a professional. As a result of going through the club, many doors have opened for me. The opportunity to travel and play the best tournaments at the European level. Also reaching a Spanish Championship and going to battle with the greatest are memories that I could never forget.
For you, who has been the most talented teammate you remember from your time at Torrejón Basketball Academy? And the one that has surprised you the most?
There are many colleagues that I could name such as JP, David Ávila, Carlos Calvo, but especially in terms of talent I would choose Moussa Diagne and Miguel Dicent. The one who has surprised me the most is my Moussa, or Moussarro, that is how we called him in the team. Very proud that he can show his potential in the best league.
How did the idea of going to study in the United States come to you? Easy or difficult decision? Where do you go to school at? Give us a balance of how was that college experience in America.
The idea comes after my departure from the TBS academy to the CBA academy in the Canary Islands. There they basically trained us to help us get scholarships, and although they could not, a perfect opportunity arose that I could not turn down. At a famous Junior College in Eastern Oklahoma, NEO, where I had one of the best experiences of my life.
What advice could you give to one of our kids who wants to pursue that route? Of course, having had that experience.
That they pursue their dream, that with hard work and effort everything comes, that there is time for everything and that they trust them as much as in the process. Lets be patient.
As a professional player, what has been the past experience at the club that you remember most fondly? And today, what does the future hold for Kingsley? How did you do in Italy recently?
The biggest memories I have of the club are the trips to Cholet and the Spanish Championship without a doubt. From the future ... I still do not know what lies ahead but I hope it is full of good things. My last season was quite pleasant for me, I had the opportunity to meet another type of basketball, in another field or context different from the one I was used to, and the truth is that it was great. I was also lucky enough to be proclaimed MVP of the 19-20 season.
Surely it has been a personal dream to represent the country, honor your family in FIBA tournaments. Tell us first, how is the creation of the Equatorial Guinea national team and your call-up? How has it been to compete for the Afrobasket? Describe those feelings, being one of the groups referents.
Well, of course, another pride, in this case I represent my mothers country, which for the first time prepared to play a FIBA tournament. For me, competing at that level is my reason why I work so hard every day. Having the opportunity to face national teams and put our country on the map is indescribable.
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