Long before Clint Capela played in the NBA, he was once a young Swiss prospect dreaming of making it to the league. But that journey was not without its roadblocks, particularly during his early years in Europe
Capela had nothing to worry about on the court. He was already listed at 6’10” when he was a teenager and was good enough to make Switzerland’s Under-16 national basketball team. But as he began competing internationally, he encountered something he could not have expected: racist abuse from spectators in Europe
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At the time, Capela was still a teenager, trying to stand out among the continent’s best young players and prove he belonged at the international level. Clint looked back on those years in 2018 in an interview with Andscape
He was already in the NBA by then, but Capela still could not forget how the audience treated him and the sting of the racism he had experienced
“In Europe, yes,” Capela said when asked whether he had experienced racism in his respective country. Whenever I used to play with the Swiss under-16, everywhere we would go, Montenegro, Italy. Every time I was scoring, monkey yells. Oh, my God. Yeah, all the time.”
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There was nothing he could do
Capela grew up playing soccer before switching to basketball at 13 years old, encouraged by his older brother and inspired by Swiss NBA player Thabo Sefolosha
It did not take long for Capela to attract attention on the court. In 2009, the 15-year-old earned a spot on Switzerland’s Under-16 national team, marking his first international appearance for the country
Clint made his mark in his first FIBA U16 European Championship in Lithuania that year, averaging 12.2 points and 8.2 rebounds in six games. When he returned to represent Switzerland in Montenegro in 2010, Capela showed noticeable improvement, raising his averages to 20.4 points and 16.1 rebounds per game
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As the Houston Rockets’ big man was dominating his opponents, however, the taunts, particularly monkey noises and getting bananas thrown at him, became hard to ignore
Although he was born in Switzerland, a predominantly white country with a population that is mainly of European descent, Capela is the son of an Angolan father and a Congolese mother. The color of his skin became a target for racist attacks
“You’re in their country that is all white people. They are allowed to say that. No one says anything,”Capela recalled. “I’m the only black guy in the gym. I can’t do much about it. It also happens in soccer. They throw bananas.”
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Capela stayed focused
As a teenager dealing with these racist attacks, Capela admitted they were difficult to endure
Still, Clint continued to play for Switzerland, ultimately making his senior debut in 2013 at the FIBA EuroBasket 1st Qualifying Tournament. At the time, he was already playing for Élan Chalon at LNB Pro A in France
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Capela pushed through the adversity he faced as a young basketball player, refusing to let the racist abuse derail his pursuit of an NBA career
“It hurts, man,” he said. “But you got to play. You got a goal, and you have to stay focused on it.”
That goal became a reality in 2014, when the Houston Rockets selected him with the 25th overall pick in the draft. According to him, the experience also strengthened his mental resilience
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“It really helps me to stay calm, not get angry on what’s happening around me and stuff like that,”Capela said
After a solid seven-year stint in Houston, where he averaged 10.7 points and 8.8 rebounds, Capela played for the Atlanta Hawks for five seasons. He returned to the Rockets in 2025 after signing a three-year, $21.5 million deal
This story was originally published byBasketball Networkon Aug 27, 2026, where it first appeared in theOff The Courtsection. Add Basketball Network as aPreferred
