KIGALI, Rwanda -- Nairobi City Thunder's appearance in Kigali at the Basketball Africa League (BAL) has been a full circle moment for co-founder and part-owner Stephen Domingo, who captained Nigeria at AfroBasket in the Rwandan capital four years ago.
San Francisco-born Domingo's journey to the upper echelons of African club basketball ownership has been a remarkably rapid rise - but also meticulously planned. An MBA from the University of California, Berkeley - where he played college basketball for the California Golden Bears - prepared him to seize the moment.
One of four co-founders of Twende Sports Ltd. together with Colin Rasmussen, Sandra Kimokoti and Kush Diriye, Domingo has played a central role in the rise of the Nairobi City Thunder (NCT) - which Twende purchased in 2023.
Head and heart aligned, as Domingo, whose father is from Lagos, Nigeria, had an emotional attachment to African basketball and believed in the business case for Nairobi - where the NBA opened a Kenyan office just as NCT were doing their initial fundraising.
The former D'Tigers captain told ESPN: "I went to business school to get my MBA at Berkeley at the same time [as playing for Nigeria] and so I was very much thinking about how to intersect sports and Africa - entrepreneurial; not just from playing.
"We raised multiple fundraising rounds. We did our first one over the course of 2023, into early 2024. That propelled us to win the domestic league and since then, we have been doing a rolling raise to get us through qualifiers and then now, to get here to the BAL.
"There's been a lot of interest. I think Nairobi is a great city for investors... Being in a great city with a good business model - and winning at the end of the day - has allowed us to bring in capital to sustain our run."
It was a perfect opportunity for Domingo to give back to African basketball in a new capacity. He may not have made the NBA, but playing in the G League for the Lakeland Magic and Fort Wayne Mad Ants, and captaining the country which runs in his blood, allowed at least many of his wildest dreams to materialise.
As he neared the end of his 20s, the feeling lingered inside him that he wanted other Africans to experience the pride he had felt when playing for Nigeria.
He said: "I played for the national team for the World Cup. I was part of the team that was leading up to the World Cup and you see how much traction it can gain with Nigerian fans. We did a really good job on social media activating Nigerian fans and you see how much basketball can grow.
"You can see how many good players we were able to compile and then pick a great team that actually ended up being the first African team to beat the USA. That was really exciting - to be a part of that lead-up to the [Tokyo] Olympics and see how African basketball can actually be successful."
With Kenyan national team captain Tylor Ongwae as captain, the Thunder are rapidly winning hearts. A small contingent of supporters even travelled to Kigali to support the team - and despite their 0-4 record in the first four games out of six in the conference - they have at least been able to watch a national hero excel in leading the team.
Domingo said of his captain: "Tylor has been the leader of Kenyan basketball for a very long time. At AfroBasket 2021, I competed against Tylor. Tylor is one heck of a competitor. He hit the game-winning shot to send Kenya to the AfroBasket.
"I think what Tylor shows guys is that it can be done. You can play a decade in Europe and play in the BAL and help a team get to new heights they never have before. He's done it with the national team and now he's doing it with us.
"As Twende Sports, we're very grateful to Tylor for coming back and also investing in his own community by taking that on. I think it's going to have tremendous beneficial outcomes for the immediate and then the future."
The 2025 season has been a learning curve. NCT won the Road to BAL East Division qualifying tournament to become the first Kenyan team ever to reach the tournament. Ater Majok and Abdoulaye Harouna were the marquee foreign players, but both ended up playing for ASC Ville de Dakar (ASCVD) in Senegal's Sahara Conference.
Offering competitive salaries while teams are competing for players ahead of the BAL itself can be a challenge, with many clubs playing in more established leagues and/or receiving significant government funding, as well as boasting fan bases which they built over decades.
While acknowledging the challenges which have come with playing at the BAL for the first time, given the tournament's structure, Domingo did not appear deterred by them as he plans ahead for future years.
He explained: "The length of the season at the highest level doesn't allow teams right now to make long-term investments on enough players and so I think the tough thing is: you bring players in for a couple of months at a time and they really gel. Even between Road to BAL and here, it's still a three, four or five month gap.
"The question is: are you able to generate enough revenue in your local market to justify the continued investment for these players even [during the period where they are not playing] in a qualifier round or the BAL?"
In the absence of an extended BAL season, having competitive basketball at a high level throughout a longer period of the year - as countries such as Angola and Egypt do - would require higher standards of professionalism in Kenyan hoops.
At least the process has begun with the rise of the City Thunder and the return of Ongwae to the country. The captain told ESPN that he is committed to the project for the long run just as Domingo is despite its teething pains in the BAL this year.
Ongwae said when asked if he envisioned himself staying with the Thunder long-term: "Yes. I'm really proud of this team.
"Just to see how these guys have gotten better. Even when Twende Sport came into the Thunder last year - just seeing how much better the local players have become in that one year - I was just amazed.
"We have a lot of talent; young guys back home, who I think in the future will take the team to even higher levels."
While not eager to discuss his own prospects of taking to the court professionally again, Domingo made it clear that he views Twende Sports and the NCT as priority projects for the next phase of his life.
He said: "I have no idea [where I'll be in 10 years]. However, I do know that I would love to see Nairobi City Thunder be one of the top teams from a winning perspective.
"I would also love to see us be one of the most profitable teams in Africa and I would love to see us have a brand and a fan base in Africa that loves the brand that you can write case studies on.
"I think when you have fans and everything, the revenue will come and the profitability will come - but I also think that the ability for others to then take your model and do it in their own individual markets [exists].
"There's a saying: rising tides raise the level of all ships. I think it's cool that right now, we have a model that's working for us. I think that there are other cities that - once they adopt that model, we will be able to bring up African basketball all together.
"That's what I hope for in 10 years - that we will have a model that either people have already decided to emulate or will continue to emulate."