Amida Brimah, only the second Ghana bred basketball player to hit NBA heights, made his first points in the biggest basketball league in the world, when the Indiana Pacers faced off with the Portland Trail Blazers a few days ago.

That game was the second in his NBA career following his two-way transfer deal with the Pacers from the G League's Fort Wayne Mad Ants. He scored six points, made three rebounds and two blocks in the nine minutes offered him.

The jump from any semi-professional to a full-professional sport, can be very challenging even for the best of athletes, but he has quickly discovered his purpose after being made to feel at home, by a team he describes as ‘a great group’.

"Yeah, it's been good, it's been good. This group is a great group, very friendly and when I first got here he lists some names were like "we need you, we need you" and them telling me that they need me was just enough for me to be like 'okay, I didn't just come here just to be called up, I came for a purpose' and that is one of the confidence boosters for me. They are a great group." He told Joy Sports in an exclusive interview.

Amida is just the second born and bred in Ghana athlete to play in the NBA, and just as has been the historical battle of many hopefuls in Ghana, Brimah has been through a mill.

Baby Steps

Amida as a young boy schooled at the Happy Home Primary, graduated to Wesley Grammar Secondary but spent majority of his afternoons at the Tudu Lebanon House court while with Galaxy Basketball Academy in Accra.

Young adults and kids trooping to the many community and closed-courts in Ghana, has become a daily sight and basketball has grown to be one of the biggest past-times for the youth and younger ones who either play for fun or with dreams of featuring in the NBA someday.

The 2018 NBA G League champion who has found himself at the peak of the game, surprisingly did not grow up with basketball as a core interest.

However efforts from his coach in Ghana has seen the 27 year old hit a level many can only dream of, and now he aims at becoming a figure the lot will aim at surpassing.

“My coach when I was in Ghana was the one who forced me to come to the court. I was literally just like them. I didn't want to play basketball, so me painting the picture letting them know that if I can do it, you can do it and you can even do way better than I did. So that's what I wanna do, I wanna be like that image and that I guess, role mode to those kids that want to be in a situation like I am or even better.”

American Dream

Brimah had his college education at the University of Connecticut where he starred in their basketball team, especially in the 2013/14 NCAA season where he converted a 3 point shot in the dying minutes v St. Joseph’s University to take the game into overtime.

The Huskies were crowned champions of the NCAA that year, and Brimah was credited with being the turning figure of their season. He made more history with the Huskies that year when he joined a prestigious list of Huskies to score for 40 points in a single game.

Starting 69 games, he made 100 appearances for UConn, scored 644 points and recorded 390 rebounds, as well as 280 blocks. He made the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie team in his sophomore year with the university.

He was signed by the Chicago Bulls for the 2017 summer league and although he was named in San Antonio Spurs’ summer training camp roster, he was waived and had to join the Austin Spurs.

He played 48 games for the Austin Spurs in the G-League in the 2017/18 season, albeit starting just 4 of them. He averaged 3.2 field goals per game out of an average of 6.3 attempts and was crowned champion with the Austin Spurs.

The 2014/15 NCAA champion signed for Partisan in the Belgian League after, and featured 10 times for the side, averaging 69.4 field goals. He put up impressive defensive performances with a defensive rebound average of 3.1 and total rebound average of 5.3.

He returned to the Austin Spurs in the 2018-19 season, appearing 48 times in the G league where he posted a field goal percentage average of 63.5 and a block average of 3.0 that season.

The 6’10 center was waived by the Indiana Pacers prior to this season and joined their affiliate, Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the G league.

NBA Realization

For someone who initially had no intentions of playing basketball, yet finds himself at the top of the game, Brimah has a lot of good fortune.

His fortune came in clutch once again with the Indiana Pacers showing interest in a player who had only just recovered from an ACL injury. Brimah recalls the period after rehab as a challenging one, failing to reach his peak in his G league return.

“Coming off an injury and going to the G league bubble, I went into the bubble not playing any full-court, no competitions, no five-on-five, nothing. I literally went from ACL tear into straight playing games, so I was only able to play one pick-up. When I was in the bubble [G league], I wasn't playing at my full best.”

So the call from Pacers was one that shook Brimah to the core. Spending two years away from basketball and not managing to impose himself on games upon his return, the center was not expecting any such move although it was one he had been hoping for, for a long time.

“I would say it caught me by surprise because going into the G league bubble, I am just coming from an ACL tear and I had taken two years off just rehabbing and getting ready for whenever I come back, I'm going to be a 100% going so I wasn't expectant.

I am doing all this for when the opportunity arises but I wasn't expecting that to happen because I have been waiting three years for this to happen and nothing happened. So the way it happened was very crazy. I had been to training camp with the Pistons the year I tore my ACL and I came to training camp this year and I couldn't even play in training camp because I had to figure stuff out with my Visa.”

However Brimah reckons that his signing for Pacers is one that makes a lot of sense, because despite his subpar performances in the G league, it was only the Pacers – the parent club to the Mad Ants, who will know his genuine worth and besides, he started to rediscover himself, even beyond his former self following the end season of the G league.

“The only team that new how good I am will be the Pacers because nobody knows how good I am because if you want to call me based off what I did in the bubble, I don't think I did enough to be called up because I was around 85% and not my full percent at that point but when I went back home, I started feeling like I'm getting back to my normal self, even better than my normal self, jumping higher and moving really good so I was like all I'm waiting for right now is an opportunity.”

That opportunity many Ghanaians yearn for has popped up at the door of Brimah and all he intends doing is to show up for his team and play the basics. No pressure.

“For me right now, I'm just trying to play my role and whatever role the coach wants me to play. Whenever I step on the court I'm making sure that I'm playing that role. That's another thing. It's very important that you know your role and what the team is expecting from you. So I know what my role is and right now if what they want from me is to rebound, set screens and block shots then that's what I'm going to do. Whatever role the team wants me to do, is what I'm willing to do at this point.”

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