David Kenechukwu Muoka has made history by becoming the first player born and raised in Hong Kong to sign with the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 23-year-old center has joined the Portland Trail Blazers, as announced by his management team, Executive Sports Management, on Instagram. They described this moment as "only the beginning of a successful career" for Muoka.
Muoka expressed his pride in this achievement on his own Instagram, posting a message that read "For the city," along with the Hong Kong flag and red heart emojis.
According to sources, Muoka has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Trail Blazers but is expected to be waived before the team's training camp begins. He is likely to be assigned to the G League team, Rip City Remix, for the upcoming season.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Muoka has a diverse background with Nigerian and British heritage. He began his basketball journey at West Island School and furthered his education and athletic career in Canada and the United States. While playing for Lamar University in the NCAA, he earned recognition as the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.
In the 2023 NBA G League Draft, Muoka was selected third overall by the Capital City Go-Go and played as a center for the Long Island Nets in the previous G League season. Although he declared for the NBA Draft in June, he went undrafted.
Currently, Muoka is in the process of obtaining an SAR passport with the aim of representing Hong Kong in the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in November and is also interested in participating in the Asian Cup qualifiers in February next year.
穆卡成為香港首位簽約NBA的球員
大衛·基內丘克·穆卡（David Kenechukwu Muoka）創下歷史，成為首位在香港出生和成長的球員，簽約國家籃球協會（NBA）。這位23歲的中鋒已加入波特蘭開拓者隊，這一消息由他的管理團隊——執行體育管理公司（Executive Sports Management）在Instagram上宣布，並形容這一時刻是穆卡“成功職業生涯的開始”。
穆卡在自己的Instagram上表達了對這一成就的自豪，發佈的信息寫道：“為了這座城市”，並附上了香港國旗和紅心表情符號。
據消息來源，穆卡已與開拓者隊簽署了一份Exhibit 10合同，但預計在球隊訓練營開始之前會被放棄。他可能會被指派到G聯盟隊伍Rip City Remix，參加即將到來的賽季。
穆卡在香港出生和成長，擁有尼日利亞和英國的多元背景。他在西島中學開始了他的籃球之旅，並在加拿大和美國繼續他的教育和運動生涯。在NCAA的拉馬大學（Lamar University）打球時，他在2021年獲得南方聯盟最佳防守球員的稱號。
在2023年NBA G聯盟選秀中，穆卡被首都城市Go-Go隊選中，並在上一個G聯盟賽季中為長島網隊效力。雖然他在六月申請參加NBA選秀，但最終未被選中。
目前，穆卡正在辦理SAR護照，目的是希望在11月的FIBA亞洲盃資格賽中代表香港出戰，並對明年2月的亞洲盃資格賽參賽表示興趣。
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