Pushpa Senthil Kumar, Princepal Singh and Sejin Mathew from India to feature at Fourth Annual Basketball Without Borders Global Camp

BWB Global Camp 2017 Group Photo

2018 NBA ALL-STARS HORFORD AND DRAGIC, PACERS’ SABONIS, NETS’ MOZGOV, CLIPPERS’ DEKKER TO COACH TOP INTERNATIONAL PROSPECTS AT FOURTH ANNUAL BASKETBALL WITHOUT BORDERS GLOBAL CAMP

- BWB Global Camp During NBA All-Star 2018 Will Bring Together Top 65 High School Age Boys and Girls from 36 Countries -

NEW YORK AND MIES, Feb. 8, 2018 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) today announced the top 65 boys and girls from 36 countries who will travel to Los Angeles for the fourth annual Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global Camp. The camp will be held Feb. 16-18 at the Los Angeles Lakers’ practice facility as part of NBA All-Star 2018, and Nike will serve as the official partner.

Five-time NBA All-Star Al Horford (Boston Celtics; Dominican Republic) and 2018 NBA All-Star Goran Dragic (Miami Heat; Slovenia), along with Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers; Lithuania), Timofey Mozgov (Brooklyn Nets; Russia) and Sam Dekker (LA Clippers; U.S.), will coach the top high school age campers from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Horford, Dragic, Sabonis, Mozgov and Dekker will be joined by NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), former NBA players Adonal Foyle (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Michael Cooper (U.S.), Acie Law (U.S.), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (England), Bostjan Nachbar (Slovenia), Mamadou N’Diaye (Senegal), Cherokee Parks (U.S.), Tiago Splitter (Brazil), Rod Strickland (U.S) and Ronny Turiaf (France), Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame members Jennifer Azzi (U.S.) and Ann Meyers-Drysdale (U.S.), former WNBA players Lindsey Harding (U.S.), Ebony Hoffman (U.S.), Ruth Riley (U.S.) and Michele Van Gorp (U.S.), as well as select players participating in NBA All-Star 2018.

For the first time in BWB history, the camp will feature nine current prospects from NBA Academies, the league’s network of elite basketball training centers around the world for top male and female prospects from outside the U.S. Since October 2016, NBA Academies have been launched in Canberra, Australia; Jinan, Urumqi and Zhuji, China; Mexico City, Mexico; Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), India; and Thies, Senegal.

Current NBA assistant coaches John Bryant (Philadelphia 76ers), Ed Pinckney (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jonah Herscu (Los Angeles Lakers) and Will Scott (Los Angeles Lakers), former NBA head coach and 1992 “Dream Team” assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo, former NBA Champion head coach Paul Westhead, and USA Basketball coach Don Showalter will also serve as BWB Global coaches. Patrick Hunt (President of the World Association of Basketball Coaches; Australia), Gersson Rosas (Houston Rockets; Colombia), Marin Sedlacek (76ers; Serbia) and Masai Ujiri (Toronto Raptors; Nigeria) will be the camp directors. Former NBA trainer Wally Blase (U.S.) will serve as the camp’s athletic trainer.

Players and coaches will lead the campers through a variety of activities on and off the court, including movement efficiency, positional skill development, shooting and skills competitions, 5-on-5 games, and daily life skills seminars focusing on health, leadership and communication. One boy and one girl will be named BWB Global Camp MVPs at the conclusion of the three-day camp.

The camp will be officiated by representatives from the NBA’s Referee Development Program, which provides rising professionals and former players with the skills necessary to pursue a career as a referee in the NBA, WNBA or NBA G League.

The campers will attend Mtn Dew Kickstart Rising Stars, State Farm NBA All-Star Saturday Night, and the 67th NBA All-Star Game at Staples Center.

Nike, a BWB global partner since 2002, will outfit the campers and coaches with Nike apparel and footwear.

BWB, the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program, has reached more than 3,000 participants from 133 countries and territories since 2001, with more than 50 former campers drafted into the NBA or signed as free agents. A record 24 former BWB campers were on opening-night rosters for the 2017-18 season, including Dragan Bender (Phoenix Suns; Croatia; BWB Global 2015), Thon Maker (Milwaukee Bucks; South Sudan; BWB Americas 2015/BWB Global 2016), Lauri Markkanen (Chicago Bulls; Finland; BWB Europe 2014/BWB Global 2015), Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets; Canada; BWB Global 2015) and Frank Ntilikina (New York Knicks; France; BWB Europe 2015/BWB Global 2016).

The first-ever Basketball Without Borders camp took place in Europe in July 2001. Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Toni Kukoc (Croatia), together with former teammates from the Yugoslav national team, reunited to work with 50 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia and Montenegro at La Ghirada in Treviso, Italy.

The NBA and FIBA have staged 52 BWB camps in 32 cities across 27 countries on six continents. More than 250 current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players have joined more than 200 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams to support BWB across the world.

Follow the camp using the hashtag #BWBGlobal on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Find out more about NBA Academies at nbaacademy.nba.com and on Instagram (nbaacademy).