BASKETBALL/Two-time MVP Gadiaga set to return to Taiwan after season in Japan

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga, a two-time regular season MVP in the former T1 League, is poised to showcase his basketball talent in Taiwan again in the upcoming season following a one-season stint in Japan's B.LEAGUE.

Gadiaga will reunite with his former franchise, the New Taipei CTBC DEA, which announced on Friday in a statement that a press conference marking his return will be held in Taipei on Monday.

The DEA, a member of the seven-team Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL), did not specify in the statement whether it had finalized a contract with Gadiaga.

The DEA likely sees the potential signing of Gadiaga as a major boost to the team's roster after a disappointing season in which it finished 16-20 and missed the playoffs.

Now 27, Gadiaga is known for his explosiveness and agility. He won back-to-back MVP awards in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 T1 League seasons with the DEA and helped the team secure its first championship in 2023.

Born to a Senegalese father and an American mother, Gadiaga has been based in Taiwan since the age of 8 and is eligible to represent Taiwan in FIBA international competitions without occupying a naturalized player spot.

During the summer of 2024, he joined Japan's Akita Northern Happinets under an Asian special quota. He started in 38 out of 58 games and averaged 10 points per game shooting 39 percent from the floor.

Gadiaga opted to buy out his contract with Akita in late May after receiving multiple offers from teams outside Japan.

In its statement, the Northern Happinets said these offers "far exceeded [their] expectations."