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Shauri Moyo's Faheem Juma on the brink of making history with Nairobi City Thunder

Shauri Moyo's Faheem Juma on the brink of making history with Nairobi City Thunder
Faheem Juma © Team Morans

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Feheem Juma stumbled on basketball by chance, but has now risen to one of the best in the game in Kenya. He is now at his prime and on the brink of making history with Nairobi City Thunderr

Faheem Juma’s journey from a curious high school graduate to a prominent figure in Kenyan basketball is nothing short of inspiring. Standing tall at 6 feet 7 inches, Faheem is now a key player for the Nairobi City Thunder and the national team, Kenya Morans. His story reflects determination, resilience, and an unyielding passion for the sport that has taken him from the streets of Shauri Moyo to the brink of making history with his team.

“It was sometime in 2014 and I had just completed high school,” Faheem Juma says before pausing. “I did not have much to do on that day and to kill the boredom, I decided to take a stroll around Shauri Moyo when I met a stranger who was impressed by my height. He asked me if I played basketball, and when I told him I didn't play the sport, he encouraged me to try it because he believed it would take me places,"

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“The stranger was so convincing and when he told me there is a basketball court at the Shauri Moyo Baptist Church where I can play basketball, I instantly acted on his words. And just like that, I started playing basketball, and here I am now.” Faheem, who turns 31 in June, narrates how he got into basketball.

Standing 6 feet 7 inches, Faheem is now one of the best basketball players in Kenya. He is a national team player, and his team, the Nairobi City Thunder, is on the verge of making history by winning the league with an unbeaten record.

"Nairobi City Thunder has assembled the best basketball players in Kenya, and we are determined to win the league this season so that our unbeaten record can count for something," Faheem says, comparing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who won the NBA after an impressive 72-10 record in the regular season, with the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who lost the NBA Championship after an extraordinary regular season during which they won 73 out of 82 league matches.

“We have to be like the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls. An unbeaten record means something like a championship title. It will mean a lot if I win the KBF Premier League with the Thunder this year. I was with them when we lost in the 2019 Ulinzi Warriors finals. I was also on the losing side last season when KPA defeated Equity in the finals,” he says.

 

Winning the league will see Nairobi City Thunder, a first in the history of the team, recalibrate their ambitions, as the league title will prime them to become the first Kenyan basketball team to feature in the Basketball Africa League (BAL), a competition that brings together the best 16 basketball teams from Africa who battle for superiority at the continental level.

“BAL is where I want to be. It is what we are aiming for, and scaling to that height will be massive for me and my teammates because we would have elevated the standards of Kenyan basketball,” Faheem says.

Since Twende Sports Limited acquired Nairobi City Thunder in 2023, the team has been threatening the status quo in Kenyan basketball. American entrepreneur Colin Rasmussen and former basketball player Stephen Domingo now co-own the team. The duo transformed the club into Kenya's first professional basketball team while at the helm.

 “Nairobi City Thunder is revolutionising Kenyan basketball and it is an exciting project to be part of. Previously, Thunder relied on well-wishers and donations from former players to get by, but with the current professional setup at the club, we hope to usher Kenyan basketball into a new era,” says Faheem, who has previously played for Neosasa Morans, Zetech University Sparks, and Equity.

It is unlikely that he would have been part of such an incredible journey in the history of Kenyan sports if he had lacked the will and determination to overcome the challenges of starting to play the sport so late in life. His entry point demonstrated that desire to excel in the sport; he entered the Shauri Moyo Baptist Church with the resolve of wanting to learn how to play the game. He did not want to play basketball just for fun and recreational purposes. His goal was to fully pursue an interest in which he had the single most important attribute — height—to excel at.

However, chasing that aspiration meant enduring the humiliating circumstances that marked his beginning in the sport, and he did so with grace.

 “When I entered the basketball court at the Shauri Moyo Baptist Church, I found Coach Babji training kids, and when I told him that I wanted to learn how to play the game, he said he could only train me if I was willing to join his sessions with the kids since I was a beginner. Man, I had to play with kids first,” Faheem, the firstborn in a family of two boys and one girl, says with a laugh.

Interestingly, Faheem does not know the real name of Coach Babji, his first basketball coach.“We only know him as Coach Babji,” he says in a way that reveals a fascinating element of friendships and interpersonal relationships among the people of Nairobi’s Eastlands area—long-time friends, estate mates, and neighbours only know each other by their nickname.

The Shauri Moyo Baptist Church is reputed to be the place where basketball started in Nairobi in the 1960s. Faheem continued to hone his skills at the cradle of sport in Kenya's capital, but he was to move his training sessions to YMCA Shauri Moyo to take advantage of their basketball gymnasium's floodlights.

“One day my mates and I had a very entertaining duel on the court and when darkness fell, we decided to go to YMCA Shauri Moyo to continue playing. Faheem says, "I never knew there was a basketball court, and it excited me that there was a place I could play late into the night."

 While playing at YMCA Shauri Moyo, Faheem’s height caught the eye of the personnel of Neosasa Morans, a second-tier basketball team at the time.

"Neosasa thought they could use my height in their defense, and just like that, I joined them. I used to protect our rim, but whenever I got the ball, I passed it to the offensive players because my dribbling and shooting were not yet good enough," he says. However, Faheem later added versatility to his game, and it was Coach Babji who again came to his rescue.

“Coach Babji saw me playing at a match and he was not impressed with me being solely on defensive duties. After the game, he had a chat and scheduled dribbling and shooting training sessions for me, which helped me improve my game.”

 His versatility, as well as his determination to constantly improve on his game, is what his coach, Brad Ibs, and captain, Gryphon Ligare, at the Nairobi City Thunder, hail as the best attributes of his game.

“Faheem is a versatile player. He gives us a lot of options during matches because we can deploy him in defence and offence. He can shoot very well and for someone with his height, that is a deadly weapon,” Brad Ibs, who started coaching Thunder last year, says before adding that Faheem also takes time to mentor younger players.

“We benefit a lot from having Faheem on the team. While he lightens the mood with his jokes, he also demands that we always give the best of ourselves. He pushes himself so hard, and seeing that in him sets an example for the rest of the team. Despite being the veteran on the team, Faheem is not shy about calling me out when he notices I have slacked,” Ligare, who is 38 years old and has been at Thunder since 2008, says.

Faheem reciprocates the admiration from his coach and captain, whom he says he learns a lot from.

 “I see myself playing for the next 10 years. I want to be like Ligare. I admire his longevity,” Faheem says.

Staying in the sport for the next 10 years should not be a difficult thing for Faheem, according to Charles "Jabush" Otieno, the coach of the Shaurimoyo Bucks, who has seen Faheem progress in the sport.

“Faheem is disciplined and focused on basketball. He trains hard, eats well, and takes care of his body. Not every player reaches his level after starting the sport at age 21. That says a lot about his character and determination,” Otieno says.

Michael Obiero, another basketball coach based in Shauri Moyo, is also pleased with Faheem’s progress and his impact in the community, as well as his faith in Islam.

“Faheem has not forgotten where he came from. Recently, he generously donated two NBA-quality balls to us. He has helped us with more before, and he is a good example for the boys in Shauri Moyo,"

"He is religious, and he often interrupts his training to go to the mosque to pray," Obiero says. "We pray for him to excel, because his success will inspire more boys around Shauri Moyo to follow his path," Obiero adds.

From training with kids when he started playing basketball at the age of 21, Faheem’s 10-year journey to chilling with the big boys of Kenyan basketball has been an inspiring one. For the six-foot-seven shooting guard, the possibilities are endless.

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