FIBA Press Release 23/2014: Basketball without Borders to be held in Taipei City and Rome for first time, returns to Johannesburg

PR N°23 - Basketball without Borders to be held in Taipei City and Rome for first time, returns to Johannesburg

NEW YORK, USA/MIES, Switzerland (Basketball without Borders) - The 2014 Basketball without Borders (BWB) schedule will feature first-time camps in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei and Rome, Italy, and will return to Johannesburg, South Africa, it was announced on Tuesday by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Basketball without Borders, the NBA and FIBA's global basketball development programme, has reached 1,700 campers from more than 120 countries, with 28 BWB campers drafted into the NBA.

BWB Europe will tip off the summer schedule from 2-5 June in Rome. Highlighting the camp will be three current Italian NBA players and former BWB campers: Danilo Gallinari (BWB 2003, Denver Nuggets), Andrea Bargnani (BWB 2003, New York Knicks), and Italian national team captain Gigi Datome (BWB 2003, Detroit Pistons). In addition, Brandon Knight (Milwaukee Bucks) and Dominican Republic international Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks) will also participate. BWB Europe 2014 will bring together the top 50 players born in 1997 from more than 25 European countries. The camp was previously held in Treviso, Italy in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

BWB Asia will take place in Taipei City from 13-16 June. 2005 BWB camper and France international Nicolas Batum (Portland Trail Blazers), John Salmons (Toronto Raptors), Ronny Turiaf (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Cody Zeller (Charlotte Bobcats) will participate, with eight-time NBA All-Star and former China international Yao Ming joining them for a one-day appearance. BWB Asia 2014 will bring together the top 50 players born in 1996 or 1997 from more than 20 Asian and Oceanic countries.

BWB Africa will return to Johannesburg for the 11th time from 5-8 August. The camp will be led by former NBA All-Star and Russia international Andrei Kirilenko (Brooklyn Nets) and Switzerland's Thabo Sefolosha (Oklahoma City Thunder), along with NBA head coaches Dwane Casey (Toronto Raptors), Brian Shaw (Denver Nuggets) and Jeff Hornacek (Phoenix Suns). BWB Africa 2014 will bring together the top 60 African players born in 1997 or 1998 from more than 20 African countries.

Through NBA Cares, the league's global social responsibility programme, all three camps will include extensive community outreach efforts led by NBA players and coaches. Through grassroots basketball development, community service, and life skill seminars, BWB will focus on teaching the values of the game, including leadership, respect, character and health and wellness. In addition, donations of school supplies, clothing, books, games, basketball equipment and other necessities will be made to local community-based organisations.

Nike, a BWB global partner since 2002, will again outfit the campers and coaches of all three camps with Nike apparel and footwear.

Since its inception, the NBA and FIBA have staged 36 BWB camps in 21 cities across 18 countries on five continents. More than 150 different current and former NBA/WNBA players have joined nearly 140 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams.

For more information, contact:

- Elliot Steinbaum, NBA Marketing Communications (ESteinbaum@nba.com)

- FIBA Communications (communications@fiba.com)

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About the NBA

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2013-14 season featured a record 92 international players from 39 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, which is available in 60 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which set a record last year with more than 9.5 billion page views, with more than half of all visitors originating from outside of North America. The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 600 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $230 million to charity, completed more than 2.8 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 860 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.

About FIBA

FIBA (fiba.com) - the world governing body for basketball - is an independent association formed by 213 National Basketball Federations throughout the world. It is recognised as the sole competent authority in basketball by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

For further information about FIBA visit fiba.com or follow FIBA on facebook.com/fiba, twitter.com/fiba and youtube.com/fiba.

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