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DR Congo men's national basketball team
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| country | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| coach | Michel Perrin |
| fiba_ranking | |
| joined_fiba | 1963 |
| nickname | Leopards |
| logo | DRC Basketball.PNG |
| logo_width | 150px |
| fiba_zone | FIBA Africa |
| national_fed | Febaco |
| zone_championship | AfroBasket |
| zone_appearances | 8 |
| h_pattern_b | _redwhitevertical |
| h_body | ffffff |
| a_pattern_b | _cod1213 |
| a_body | 008040 |
| a_shorts | FF0000 |
| a_pattern_s | _cod1213h |
the men's team
The DR Congo national basketball team (French: Équipe nationale de basketball de Congo DR) represents DR Congo in men's international basketball competitions, it is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Democratic Republic of Congo. ()
The team has appeared in the FIBA Africa Championship, but has yet to appear in the FIBA World Championship. Its biggest success to date was the Final Four placement at the 1975 FIBA Africa Championship when it competed as Zaire.
History
DR Congo joined FIBA in 1963 and made its continental debut twelve years later at the AfroBasket in 1974. The following year, at AfroBasket 1975, the team—then known as Zaire—finished in fourth place with a 2–3 record. After placing sixth in 1980, DR Congo missed the tournament for the next 27 years.
At AfroBasket 2007, DR Congo returned and finished 15th.
Following another lengthy absence, DR Congo re-emerged at AfroBasket 2017 and advanced to the quarter-finals, highlighted by an upset of Nigeria in the group phase.
In August 2022, Jonathan Kuminga, then a newly crowned NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, joined the national team for the 2023 FIBA World Cup African Qualifiers, becoming the first NBA player to represent the Leopards. He scored a team-high 18 points and six rebounds in a qualifier against Cameroon.
In qualifying for AfroBasket 2025, DR Congo impressed with a 5–1 record under head coach Michel Perrin. Expectations grew further when Kuminga was named to the preliminary roster.
However, as the tournament approached, Kuminga’s participation was cast into doubt due to unresolved contract negotiations with Golden State. He reportedly declined a two-year, $45 million extension and was considered unlikely to play for DR Congo at AfroBasket 2025.
Performances
FIBA Basketball World Cup
DR Congo has never appeared in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, but has played in the qualifying rounds.
| FIBA World Cup record | Qualification record | Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | GP | W | L | – | Total | 0/16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 7 | 11 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil 1963 | Did not qualify | AfroBasket served as qualification | ||||||||||||||||||
| Uruguay 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Puerto Rico 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Philippines 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Colombia 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Argentina 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Canada 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Greece 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Japan 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkey 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| China 2019 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
| PhilippinesJapanIndonesia 2023 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||
| Qatar 2027 | To be determined | To be determined | 2027 |
AfroBasket
Fourth place
| AfroBasket record | Qualification record | Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | GP | W | L | – | Total | colspan="2" | 7/29 | 31 | 11 | 20 | 24 | 11 | 13 | – | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAR 1964 | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TUN 1965 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MAR 1968 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EGY 1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SEN 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CAF 1974 | Classification stage | 6th | 4 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| EGY 1975 | Main stage | 4th | 5 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| SEN 1978 | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MAR 1980 | Classification stage | 6th | 5 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| SOM 1981 | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EGY 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CIV 1985 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TUN 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ANG 1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EGY 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KEN 1993 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ALG 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SEN 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ANG 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MAR 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EGY 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ALG 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ANG 2007 | Classification round | 15th | 6 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| LBA 2009 | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MAD 2011 | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CIV 2013 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| TUN 2015 | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SEN TUN 2017 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
| RWA 2021 | Group stage | 13th | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2021 | ||||||||||||||||
| ANG 2025 | Qualification to quarter-finals | 11th | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2025 |
FIBA AfroCan
Main article: FIBA AfroCan
Champions
Fourth place
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | Total | 2/2 | 11 | 8 | 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLI 2019 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 5 | 0 | ||||||||
| ANG 2023 | 4th place | 4th | 6 | 3 | 2 |
Team
Current roster
Roster for the 2025 FIBA AfroBasket.
- FRA Michel Perrin
- FRA Gaëtan Douet
- COD Muamba Ilunga
- (C) Team captain
- Club – describes last club before the tournament
- Age – describes age on 12 August 2025
Head coaches
| Name | Nationality | Tenure | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR Congo | 2010s | ||||||
| CIV | 2010s | ||||||
| FRA | 2016–2017 | ||||||
| DR Congo | title=DR Congo mourns passing of former national teams head coach Papy Kiembe | url=https://www.fiba.basketball/news/dr-congo-mourns-passing-of-former-national-teams-head-coach-papy-kiembe | access-date=2022-08-30 | website=FIBA.basketball | language=en}} | ||
| France | 2018 | ||||||
| Norway | 2020–2022 | ||||||
| Thomas Drouot | France | February 2022 – July 2022 | |||||
| Emmanuel Mavomo | DR Congo | date=2022-08-26 | title=Emmanuel Mavomo: "We want to be the first to qualify the DRC for the World Cup" | url=https://www.africannewspaper.net/2022/08/26/emmanuel-mavomo-we-want-to-be-the-first-to-qualify-the-drc-for-the-world-cup/ | access-date=2022-08-30 | website=African News Paper | language=en-US}} |
| Pierrot Ilunga | DR Congo | 2023 | |||||
| Michel Perrin | France | 2025 |
Notable eligible players
Past rosters
Roster in the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers of August 27, 2022.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Current club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00 | SG | Jonathan Kuminga | USA Golden State Warriors |
| 3 | F | Narcisse Ambanza | DRC Espoir Fukash |
| 4 | G | Myck Kabongo | RSA Cape Town Tigers |
| 5 | G | Henry Pwono | LUX Etzella |
| 10 | PF | Joel Ntambwe | USA Delaware Blue Coats |
| 11 | C | Pitchou Kambuy Manga | RWA REG |
| 15 | F | Rolly Fula Nganga | DRC Espoir Fukash |
| 16 | PF | Shekinah Munanga | FRA Évreux |
| 18 | C | Jordan likanda | ESP CB Breogán |
| 23 | F | Rodrigue Ebondo Tambwe | CIV SOA |
| 24 | G | Ron Mvouika | UK Plymouth Raiders |
Top scorers
The following players were the DR Congo's top scorers in their AfroBasket tournaments:
| Tournament | Player | Points | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Herve Kabasele Kasonga | 59 | 14.8 |
| 2021 | Henry Pwono | 48 | 16.0 |
References
References
- (April 2025)
- (12 March 2021). "DR Congo national basketball team". Basketball Africa.
- (15 August 2007). "DR Congo returns to AfroBasket after long absence". [[FIBA]].
- (10 September 2017). "DR Congo stun Nigeria to reach AfroBasket quarter-finals". [[FIBA]].
- (26 August 2022). "Splash Brothers, Ibaka, Iggy encouraged me to play for my national team – Kuminga". [[FIBA]].
- (29 August 2022). "Kuminga shines as DRC battles Cameroon". The New Times Rwanda.
- (3 July 2025). "Team profile: Can DR Congo keep up their strong performance?". [[FIBA]].
- (18 July 2025). "Leopards ready to shock African basketball world". [[FIBA]].
- (30 July 2025). "Jonathan Kuminga likely to miss AfroBasket 2025 with DR Congo". BasketNews.
- (30 July 2025). "Jonathan Kuminga will not participate in AfroBasket amid Warriors negotiations". [[Golden State of Mind]].
- (1 August 2025). "Jonathan Kuminga stalemate with Golden State set to cost him AfroBasket". NBA Analysis Network.
- (12 August 2025). "Team roster: DR Congo".
- "DR Congo mourns passing of former national teams head coach Papy Kiembe".
- "DR Congo appoint Douaglin as head coach in bid to qualify for World Cup".
- "Kayembe excited about new DR Congo sophisticated style".
- "AfroBasket 2021 - Team Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo".
- Demba, Varore. (2022-02-17). "Basketball : la RD Congo engage un nouvel entraîneur pour les qualifications au Mondial 2023".
- (2022-08-26). "Emmanuel Mavomo: "We want to be the first to qualify the DRC for the World Cup"".
- "Team Profile: DR Congo are chasing back-to-back FIBA AfroCan success".
- "Congo DR at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers".
- "Dem.Rep. of Congo at the FIBA Afrobasket 2017".
- "Congo DR at the FIBA AfroBasket 2021".
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