Basketball: NZ Breakers centre Chris Obekpa left royal roots to chase hoop dreams

Chris Obekpa goes up for a dunk. Photo / Getty Images

It's like something out of a book: a young member of the royal family sets out on a journey to a land far away to chase his passion.

For New Zealand Breakers import Chris Obekpa, it's reality.

Obekpa is from Benue State, Nigeria, where there are three major tribes: the Tiv, Idoma and Igede. Obekpa is a member of the royal family of the Idoma tribe; his grandfather was their king, a title which is now held by his uncle, while his father is a prince.

After developing a love for basketball and a quality skill set, Obekpa left Nigeria for the United States in 2010, where he finished his final two years of high school in the hope of being noticed by collegiate programmes.

Ranked among the top 20 centre prospects coming out of high school at the time, Obekpa had a number of suitors including UCLA and the University of Connecticut. However, he chose to join St John's University in New York, where he established himself as a defensive powerhouse.

Breakers imports Ater Majok and Chris Obekpa take a photo with Sir Michael Jones. Photo / Photosport

Since going undrafted in the 2016 NBA draft, he's played around the world and was last year the leading shot blocker in Turkey's Super League.

Now in New Zealand to protect the paint for the Breakers, Obekpa was excited for the next opportunity to further his career.

"It's a great set of guys," Obekpa said of the Breakers. "If we come in here to work every day, try to get better every day and put it together, we're going to do something really great."

While there are a number of new faces for him in the Breakers squad, he and the team's young American star point guard RJ Hampton have a relationship which they established in the US. Obekpa was a part of the Nigerian team to qualify for the Fiba World Cup, which is being contested in China, and was selected in the team to play in the tournament. However, he instead arrived in New Zealand early to get settled in before getting to work for the Breakers.

"I made a choice," Obekpa said of his decision not to play for Nigeria. "It's been fun so far and I'm looking forward to the season."

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