Pic credit: Fiba

The first time I realized that some famous athlete shared the same birthday as mine of September 20 was in grade school. He wasn´t a basketball player, but a NHL legend with Guy Lafleur. He was also my first favorite player as his grace on the ice was mesmerizing as was his free flowing blond hair as he raced to the goal with his scoring and playmaking skills. Later when I was covering basketball in 2006, I noticed that Braunschweig guard Ashanti Cook was also born on my birthday day. It hasn´t been many, but for the research of this piece, I also came upon other notable people from the basketball world like like Donatas Motiejunas, Nathan King and Kyle Anderson and the heart and soul of the Boston Celtics Red Auerbach as well as people like Sophia Loren, Gary Cole and Kristen Johnson all known in Hollywood. When I was researching for my next article for Musa Abra (179-PG-2006), I came across that blessed day of mine of September 20 with the young talented German player Musa Abra. “My best gift ever was a bracelet that I received for my 18th birthday. I would like to get a dog”, smiled Musa Abra. He is a player I have seen play the last years in the pro B as his minutes and skills have grown every season. His play was noticed by the German basketball federation as he was able to compete at the last U-19 World Cup where he earned an incredible Silver medal. He has always been a late bloomer, but his game is finally coming together. He has massive goals and one of many young German players to keep an eye on in the next years. USA is the long term goal of Musa Abra as College and The NBA are on his bucket list.

The 19 year old German who names Christian Anderson and Calvin Wishart as his toughest players he has battled in his career so far found his way to the orange basketball through his 2 sisters who inspired him to play. Another friend also began to play which began their love for the game at age 10. His first 2 basketball inspirations were Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose while his father was a mentor for him. He began with the Basket Lowen U-10 team and played for the Gotha Rockets in the U-16 and for the Basketball Lowen U-19 team. He found love right away for the Basketball Lowen Erfurt that he was never tempted to go anywhere else. “Everything around the court was special. The staff, medicals, volunteers and what I enjoyed the most, are the fans who never give up on u”, said Musa Abra. He began to play for the Lowen NBBL team in the 2022-2023 season averaging 5.3ppg, 1.3rpg, 3.4apg, 2.0spg, FGP: 40.0%, 3PT: 50.0%, FT: 90.0% and also played 12 Pro B games. His minutes kept rising in the Pro B from 13 to 21 and he averaged 3,0ppg in the pro B and in the NBBL 16.8ppg, 5.4rpg, 4.8apg, 1.9spg, FGP: 42.7%, 3PT: 26.2%, FT: 72.1%. His minutes rose again last season to 30+as he had his real pro B break through last season averaging 10.9ppg, 1.7rpg, 1.9apg, FGP: 44.7%, 3PT: 28.3%, FT: 73.3% and in the NBBL was a top player averaging 20.7ppg, 3.0rpg, 4.9apg, 3.3spg, FGP: 48.6%, 3PT: 27.9%, FT: 79.6%. His game grew every season. “I think I got way more comfortable in playing my position, my confidence got higher over the time and I think I got much stronger body wise”, said Musa Abra. He also was very fortunate to have had 2 great guards with American Tyseem Lyles and German Jan Heber that helped with his game through the years. “Both of them are really great players. I was always able to learn a lot from both players. From Tyseem, I learned a lot about his approach to training, and from Jan, I learned how to lead a team”, stated Musa Abra.

The German who names Guy Landry Edi, Jan Heber, Tyseem Lyles, Noah Kamdem, Paul Albrecht, and Mike Mitchell Jr as his best teammates of all-time is now in his fourth pro B season and has seen the misfortune of the club in the last 3 years. The ambitions of the Lowen organization have always been massive as the Pro A is a big goal. However the results in the playoffs were never good. The club lost in the quarterfinals the last 3 years and have a 1-6 record in those games against Koblenz, Wolmirstedt and Paderborn. “I think it was down to us every time. We didn’t play with complete confidence at the decisive moments, which then cost us the game”, remembered Musa Abra. This season the club is currently moving in a direction where the club won´t make the playoffs. The club allows more points than what it makes which has cost them too many games. “I think we lack energy on both ends. We got beaten way too often in one on one situations and conceded a lot of points as a result. And even though we were the better team offensively, we still lost most of the time because of that. I still believe we will correct this problem in a short time”, commented Musa Abra. Lyles and Heber have departed the club, but he has great teammates with Paul Albrecht who is in his third season with the Lowen and rookie guard Mike Mitchell who are both players from which the young German can soak up much from. “ I think Paul is a very important piece in our offense. He can pass, he can shoot and he can finish under the basket. With a player like that in the offense, you can play very creatively. I really enjoy playing alongside Mike on the court. He is a very good shooter and is also very good at creating for himself. This draws defense to him and allows him to find his open teammates, or he takes the shot himself”, expressed Musa Abra.

So what kind of a player is Musa Abra exactly who lists Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar on his NBA Mount Rushmore and Dirk Nowitzki, Dennis Schröder, Franz Wagner, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Detlef Schrempf on his German Mount Rushmore? Some players develop quicker as others as a Ivan Kharchenkov who is a freshman at Arizona (NCAA) was already a top Pro B player at age 16 while Abra developed differently. “You could say that I’m a late bloomer, as I’ve only developed physically and as a basketball player in recent years, while others were already much further ahead much earlier on”, said Musa Abra, He is a 187cm point guard that compares his game as a mix between Sylvain Francisco and Maodo Lo. He is a scoring point guard who can also find his teammates with ease, but also understands that he wants to continue to improve his playmaking skills. “I think scoring and being aggressive is a really big strength I have. But for me it is also important to get my assist rate higher”, added Musa Abra. But if one thinks he is all about making an impact on the offensive end, he is just as capable as making an impact on the defensive end. “ Defending is also a big part of my game, full court or one on one. I think situations like closeouts and staying in front of my man are one of my strengths”, warned Musa Abra. Scoring is something that he has continued to improve the last years and knows what other areas of his game are most important to improve now. “I want to improve my passing abilities but also in taking care of the ball in every situation”, said Musa Abra.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Musa Abra in Frankfurt in 2025

The scoring point guard who lists Michael Jordan as His GOAT in the past and Lebron James as his present GOAT celebrated his biggest success so far in his young career with winning a silver at the 2025 U-19 World Cup with Germany. “It was a great thing, especially with this team. And it gave me the motivation to work on myself even harder”, said Musa Abra. He had incredible teammates like Christian Anderson and Hannes Steinbach who are currently playing in the NCAA and possible NBA draft picks in 2026 and others like Jack Kayil, Declan Duru and Eric Reibe who also are massive promising prospects. Unfortunately for him, he didn´t get big minutes. He actually only accumulated a total of 20 minutes in 5 games, but wouldn´t have traded the experience for anything. “I leaned to stay ready in every second of the game. Your chance will come even if it´s frustrating”, stressed Musa Abra. Even if Germany stayed with USA well for the first half, they completely collapsed in the second half as their athleticism totally overpowered Germany. He played 2 minutes against Team USA and saw future NBA draft picks play. Does he feel like his game is so far away from future NBA guys like Dybantsa and Peat? “I think my game isn´t so much far away from them. They are quality wise, body wise and mental wise better than me. But If work hard enough over the next years, then I can get even closer to their level”, warned Musa Abra. His teammate Jack Kayil who is having his BBL break through season with Alba Berlin is another guy where there is possible NBA buzz brewing. He knows how valuable the weeks were with him last summer and knows how good his chances would be in a 1-1 duel in practice. “Jack is great player but also a really good team leader. I think leading a team is a quality from him I can learn from. If I make all my shots and if we play make it take it, it could be a close game“, expressed Musa Abra. Is the NCAA a goal for him in the future and is he more of a NBA or Euroleague guy? “College Is the goal for me for the next years and my biggest goal is to play in the NBA”, warned Musa Abra. It seems like the German march to the NBA will continue in the next years with so many great German talents. Why not another one with Musa Abra? The German wave of young prospects has never been as strong and as exciting as now.