Part I

Senegal | France | USA

“From a young age, Makhtar had a sense of balancing right and wrong that could have only been given to him by his parents, especially his mother.”

En Français

The people of Dakar, Senegal, never cease to rest their smiles, humming through life, exuding happiness to whomsoever they pass. Within Dakar in a neighborhood called Sicap, Makhtar Ndiaye, son of an Olympian mother, began his journey. Little did he know that in 1998, a boy from Sicap would become the first Senegalese player to make it to the NBA. As the first to walk through those doors, Makhtar paved a path for a generation of young Senegalese athletes to pursue their dreams, opening the window for the NBA to invest in a nation so rich in talent. This is the story of a boy from Sicap.

Makhtar’s journey has taken him from Dakar, to Paris, Oak Hill Academy, Wake Forest, Michigan’s Fab 5, the University of North Carolina as well as several stops within the NBA as a player, agent and scout. In this sense, Makhtar is a true NBA journeyman. Having seen the game from multiple angles and encountering so many brothers along the way, few men have the depth of relationships and air of respect within NBA circles.

This past summer, Makhtar was able to take Doc Rivers, David Fizdale and current Houston Rockets scout, BJ Johnson, to his old neighborhood. The three were in Senegal participating in the Basketball Without Borders camp: FIBA and the NBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program. Makhtar had always dreamed of being able to bring the people he met while living out his dream back to Sicap where his dream began. At the end of the neighborhood road, the court that he practiced on still beams. A little beat down, cement cracked, colors faded and bereft of overlooking lights, but in Makhtar’s eyes, it still shines. This was his Madison Square Garden.

Rockets scout BJ Johnson reflects on what those moments in Sicap meant for Doc, Fiz and himself. “Senegal was such an unbelievable thing for all of us to see. We walked around the neighborhood talking to everyone. We had the chills, man, all of us, the whole freaking time walking around. It’s just an unbelievable story that you can be in that and make it out. All four of us had similar backgrounds in a sense and basketball took us places. Somebody gave us a chance and we had the fortitude to never give up. Some of the stuff you go through in life causes you to be exactly who you are right now. If you wouldn’t have had those moments made, you wouldn’t even be here, man. It’s an incredible thing.” That neighborhood, those people, and that court all inspired Makhtar to work hard to be the best basketball player to ever come from of Senegal.

Makhtar explains that, “Honestly, I did not even want to play in the NBA or America. Back then, we could really only watch highlights from the French league and I wanted to be a star there.” All of that changed when University of Maryland standout Derrick Lewis saw Makhtar play outstandingly in Reims, France, earning him MVP honors of the national tournament. At some point, Lewis pulled Makhtar aside and told him that he has a future in America. He could make the NBA. Makhtar had never thought of that.

Oak hill academy

After the illustrious Oak Hill Academy came calling, Makhtar’s life changed forever. Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour has a song, Pitche Mi, about a lost bird who is praying for his mother to find him before he gets eaten by the lurking wolf. Pitche Mi echoes how Makhtar felt at this stage in life. At seventeen years old, Makhtar boarded a flight to Virginia. Alone, in a far less-globalized world, he was unsure of what lay next.

Storied Oak Hill Academy head coach, Steve Smith, had been raving about Makhtar prior to his arrival. The team, which ended up going 36-0 en route to a national championship, was eager to find out who the kid from Senegal was.

As Makhtar arrived to campus in 1992, he got out of the car and was immediately greeted by the extended arm of a kid introducing himself saying, “Jeff, what’s up?” This was Jeff McInnis who later went on to play 13 years in the NBA. Not knowing any English, Makhtar froze in confusion, grabbed Jeff’s hand and blankly stared into Jeff’s face.

“Man, I had no idea what the hell he was saying to me. Where I come from, someone introduces you. You don’t introduce yourself. What’s funny is that Jeff went on to become one of my closest friends at Oak Hill and UNC,” laughs Makhtar.

At this point, Makhtar had moved halfway across the world to a country, not knowing the language. There was not even an easy way to call back home in 1992. It is in these days that Makhtar developed that sense of ownership in life that he carries so confidently with him today. “If you want something in life, you have to go out and get it. Nobody is going to get it for you.” If you are from West Africa, you know exactly what that means.

The first few days were rough. At practices, Makhtar did not have his feet beneath him. “I was like, Coach, he ain’t good, man!” At the time, Jeff did not understand how tired Makhtar would have been from the travel between three countries and asked him straight up, “How good are you, bruh, what you do good!?” Makhtar told Jeff to give him two days. As promised, Makhtar started dominating practices: dunking hard, hitting threes, blocking shots. Nobody could score in the paint. “I was just like WOW, I have never seen a big man do all of that.”

Future NBA All-Star and Oak Hill teammate, Jerry Stackhouse, reflects on Makhtar’s unique skillset that gave the team a dynamic look against competition. “Makhtar was ahead of his time. You could easily say that. Learning from European basketball, he could really shoot the ball. Our starting center popping out to hit threes, that was really unheard of at the time.” The team knew they were onto something special.

Off the court, the adjustment was humorous. The boys had their fun with the newcomer. Whenever the team would go out to eat, Makhtar stuck closely behind Jeff and Stack, who often cooked for the team and knew his food very well. To this day, both crack up saying “same thing, same thing” in a deep, distressed voice. These are the words Makhtar would utter after Jeff and Stack gave their orders, not knowing what anything was. On other occasions, after ordering, Jeff would scurry away as quickly as he could, leaving Makhtar lost.

“JEFF!! Where you going!” Everybody would burst into laughter.

American life would continue to dazzle Makhtar. The early 90’s was a time in history when technology was quite nascent. You could not really get a glimpse into life in other corners of the globe. One of the first impressions Makhtar developed of the United States came from watching Jerry Springer in the basement of the team house. He was zoned in. “America’s crazy! Look at this, Jeff!” Dazed by all the fighting, he could not believe what he saw. It was like a jungle. Mak had always been a peacemaker type of dude, but he developed an edge while playing basketball. In America, Makhtar knew that you had to fight to get your shot.

The turning point in his young life came in the spring of 1993 at the Roundball Classic, the first high school national all-star game, founded by marketing trailblazer and industry legend, Sonny Vaccaro. At the time, Sonny was major figure in the world of sports. He had a profound influence in directing the paths of many young, talented basketball players by creating the ABCD Camp and the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic (later called the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic). Sonny was also the man who signed Michael Jordan to his first shoe deal at Nike, growing the company’s global influence immensely. There was no better man for Makhtar to be around in order to carve out his own American dream. At the Roundball weekend, being its first and only international player, Makhtar would spend most of his time with the Vaccaros while the rest of the players were with their families. They developed a good repoire, and at the end of the Roundball weekend, Makhtar told Sonny and Pam that he one day hopes to visit them in Los Angeles, which they warmly accepted. All the players had open invites. 

A few months later in early-summer, Oak Hill coach Steve Smith called Sonny to let him know that Makhtar was ready to visit them. “We thought he was coming for three or four days,” Sonny laughs, “He never left.” Makhtar spent the entire summer there prior to enrolling at Wake Forest.

At the time, in Senegal, Makhtar’s grandmother had just passed away. He was very close to her and feared that if he went back, he would never be able to return to America. Makhtar knew his grandmother would want him to stay in America to carve out this dream for his family. However, he had nowhere to stay. What the Vaccaro’s did by taking in Makhtar as a son, unassumingly, is incredibly significant in the grand scheme. “By osmosis, not blood, he became a part of our family to this very minute,” Sonny reflects.

During the summer of 1993, Sonny and Pam could never really tell that he was homesick. The phone bill was high from calling Senegal so frequently, but other than that, Makhtar was living the dream. However, something within Makhtar yearned so much for his people that he could not sit well, knowing they were struggling while he was living comfortably. Makhtar wanted to take care of his Senegalese brothers and sent good friend, Amadou Gallo Fall (now Vice President & Managing Director of NBA Africa), shoes from Sonny Vaccaro’s time at Nike to help out the entire Senegalese national team. This was the first gesture of many that Makhtar made in hopes of opening more doors for the Senegalese players to get the same opportunity that talented players in the States got.

“The first thing he asked for as a 18 year old, was for other people. Just think about what I just told you,” Sonny says. “If you go back to Africa’s extension into the NBA, it was a non-thought of thing. In fact, Africa in the 90’s was thought of in not-so-pleasant ways. Makhtar, in his inherent ability to communicate and have respect for people, saw a vehicle where he could introduce me to them (Masai Ujiri and Amadou Gallo Fall), whom he believed had this great ability. He believed in them before they became them. I would have never known these guys. They were the first three African people I met along the way. Just think about what I am telling you. I am supposed to be ‘one of these people’ and he opened up a new part of me. My life was enriched by knowing Amadou and Masai. We shipped things over to Africa. We packed things up - clothes and shoes.” Makhtar got the embers going for the African movement that very summer.

wake forest

After staying the summer with the Vaccaro’s, Makhtar stepped onto Wake Forest’s campus in the fall of 1993 excited to start his college career. Makhtar and his roommate, future 15-time All-Star Tim Duncan, were primed to make a dynamic frontcourt - both possessing a great ability to shoot the ball and a mobility rarely seen in big men in that time. However, after months of a back and forth tug, Makhtar was ruled ineligible to play for the Wake Forest basketball team.

When Makhtar first arrived to the United States, there was an individual who was assigned to look after his affairs and translate for him. Unbeknownst to Makhtar, in the recruitment process, the individual struck a deal to get himself paid if he got Makhtar to commit to Wake Forest. Essentially, he was selling Makhtar’s talent, while hiding behind the guise of being a guardian for his future. When that money never came through, the individual publicized the secret and Makhtar faced the consequences. The NCAA ruled Makhtar ineligible to play for the 1993-1994 season. Pam Vaccaro shares that this happens all the time in college athletics. “Adults are doing things behind closed doors and the kids have no concept of what is going on. But, the young person suffers the consequences of the older person’s actions.”

The NCAA as an entity came down harshly on Makhtar. After being ruled ineligible, Makhtar was being demonized by the pervading narrative that he broke the rules and that he had to leave. Pam continues to explain that in those days, “When an entity that big comes down on you and you are judged harshly by a group, seeing your name in the paper saying you broke the rules in very harsh language, for a young person, you feel demonized and that you can’t overcome it.” Stepping in to protect Makhtar, whom he now considered a son, Sonny fought for Makhtar’s name and freedom to play basketball as he left Wake Forest to rejoin the Vaccaro’s at the Pacific Palisades. Throughout this process, the NCAA had accused Sonny of being a booster who would profit off of Makhtar’s pending commitment, a story all-too-familiar for the young man. Little did anyone know how special their bond was. In the midst of these challenging days, Sonny received what he says may be the most meaningful letter he had ever received in his life. “It was a mother (Makhtar’s mother) saying to a stranger, me, a white guy from America, in French, ‘You are the guardian of my child. I trust you.’” At that moment, they were linked for life. With Sonny’s relentless support, Makhtar was able to transfer to the University of Michigan during the Fab 5 era and became the first transfer in history who did not have to sit out the season prior to playing.

read Part II