Back to basketball, as the third edition of the NBA Africa Game tips off in Pretoria today, with Team Africa facing Team World. But this contest is more than just an exhibition, and as Sias du Plessis tells us, it is part of NBA Africa's mission to leave a legacy on the continent.

The NBA's standout players certainly stand out, especially when towering over the rest of us humans, but this time their skills weren't put to the test on the court. Instead, the athletes donned hard hats and gloves, in order to lend a hand to Habitat for Humanity, with an aim to built 10 houses in the community of Lawley just outside Johannesburg.

PATRICK KULATI HABITAT FOR HUMANITY SOUTH AFRICA DIRECTOR "Habitat stands for decent shelter for everyone, so in this partnership what the legends and the players are doing, they are here to put meaning to that."

It is the third consecutive year that the NBA Africa Game is changing lives in South Africa, through the Basketball Without Borders project and the NBA Cares initiative, and legend Dikembe Mutombo is delighted to be contributing to the upliftment of communities.

DIKEMBE MUTOMBO NBA GLOBAL AMBASSADOR "Giving back is part of our DNA. NBA, and NBA Cares, and the Player's Association, we believe that for us to be better, we need to make our community better as well, so I am so happy and so pleased to see so many of our young people who are playing in the NBA today, getting their hands dirty."

The NBA's all-time leading points scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, believes it is important for the younger African-American players to get involved due to the fact that they also share similar backgrounds to the communities they are helping to uplift.

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR NBA LEGEND "Most of the players in the NBA, the African-Americans, come from very poor circumstances. They understand what this means to have to live in poverty, and not have opportunities, so to come here and show that there is another way and give these people some guidance and hope, I think it makes us feel good and I hope it does something positive in this community."

Javale McGee, who has just completed a move to the L.A. Lakers, is excited to be on the continent for the first time and to be contributing to the good cause.

JAVALE McGEE LOS ANGELES LAKERS CENTER "It feels amazing coming to the motherland and just giving back, and just being able to help out, a helping hand where I can, and there is just so much positivity here and I really appreciate everybody else coming also, so it is definitely a good thing."

Speculation is rife that the next NBA Africa Game will take place in either Kenya or Nigeria, and nothing has been confirmed according to Mutombo, but he can confirm that the game is definitely coming back to Africa in 2019.

DIKEMBE MUTOMBO NBA GLOBAL AMBASSADOR "There will a game on the continent, we don't know where, the front office will decide, where the game will be next year, but the guys are happy to come back in Africa and giving back."

SIAS DU PLESSIS JOHANNESBURG "Although the main focus will be on Saturday's game in Johannesburg, this is where all the hard work is really done, on the continent where it all began for a lot of these players, giving back to the community and changing lives, one brick at a time, Sias du Plessis, CGTN, Johannesburg."