Christ Koumadje is 2.21 meters tall – and on his way to becoming a fixture at Alba Berlin. With his length on the field, he has a harder time than many think.

"He can run," praise head coach Israel Gonzalez and individual coach Carlos Frade. Christ Koumadje, 26-year-old professional basketball player from Alba Berlin, catches the eye with his incredible length. On his employer's website, he is listed as 2.21 meters, the Euroleague presents him as a center of 2.23 meters, and according to Wikipedia he is 2.24 meters long. To real greatness, however, the man from Chad is yet to mature.

Michael Reinsch

Correspondent for sports in Berlin.

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"The last time I met someone longer than me in the G-League," says Koumadje: "That was Tacko's case." Fall is 2.29 meters long and has long since moved from the so-called development league of the NBA to China.

"A lot of fans think that my length is easy in basketball," says Koumadje: "They don't understand that traditional centers are no longer in demand. We can't hang around at the basket and dunk as we want. We have to be able to get away from the basket and throw." And you have to be able to run, at least in Alba Berlin's fast game.

Even Koumadje did not make it from the G-League to the NBA, the first basketball league in the world. In the 2019–20 season, he was named the league's best defenseman as a professional with the Delaware Blue Coats, the farm team of the Philadelphia 76ers. The move to Europe led him to Estudiantes Madrid and Avtodor Saratov on the Volga. It was only at Alba Berlin that Koumadje found a home in 2021.

Second year of apprenticeship comes to an end

"We decided that it would be a long-term project," says individual trainer Frade: "When Christ came, he had to develop physically, and he had to develop technically. For him and for us, this meant that we would work long and patiently."

For Koumadje, his second year of apprenticeship in Berlin is coming to an end these days. At the cup tournament this weekend in Oldenburg, he has the chance to win his fourth title. He has already won two championships and the cup.

"To have a guy of more than 2.20 meters in the team is a huge factor," enthuses Alba build-up player Tamir Blatt: "Opponents come under the basket and are simply afraid to throw because he can block them so easily. In addition, he has a huge presence on the field. It's hard for the point guard like me to miss him."

Koumadje grew up in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. At the age of sixteen, he left his mother and siblings and moved to Dakar. At a market, he caught the eye of the head of a basketball academy, the brother of Senegalese NBA player Mamadou N'Diaye.

He started playing basketball. Six months later, he received a high school scholarship in Orlando, Florida. That was in 2013. Three years later, he transferred to college, Florida State in Tallahassee.

Better defender

"When I look back in twenty years, I will say that these hard years were the best," Koumadje believes: "I will say: What I experienced was fun. Those years have made me who I am." At college a slag of 108 kilos, Koumadje increased his weight in the G-League to 123 kilos. In Berlin, he has gained another ten kilos.

"The conditioning coaches have done an incredible job," praises Frade: "It is necessary that he has stabilized in the lower body. Many defenders don't raise their hands in the game against him, but push down to throw him off balance."

In addition to stability, Koumadje has improved its footwork. That makes him a better defender. Coach Gonzales uses him in the Bundesliga and Euroleague for less than an average of 15 minutes; almost 8 and 6.5 points respectively and a good four rebounds are great achievements.

The throws that opponents omit in his shadow cannot be counted. The Berlin audience cheers when Koumadje runs to the opposite side after a block and gets the ball passed high above the heads of the others and, with a small hop, hits through the ring hanging at a height of 3.05 meters.

"Basketball is the tool I use to improve my life and that of my family," says Koumadje. Was he born for this? "I wouldn't say so," Koumadje replies, "I don't think basketball is my purpose in life."

On his headphones, he often listens to a hit from Nigeria: "African Giant" by Burna Boy, who was nominated for the 2020 Grammy Awards with his album of the same name. How long is it really? "Many people make a hype out of it," he says: "Many exaggerate. I know I'm 2.21 meters tall." That's all you need.