With the international popularity of the NBA continuing to grow immensely, the league is proactively making an effort to continue having the game of basketball reach people it may not otherwise. The Basketball Without Borders program that was established in 2001 has been able to establish camps in 30 cities located in 25 different states.
Though the NBA has been popular in nations such as China for quite some time, we’ve seen a plethora of European countries join the NBA trend as well now. With the most recent announcement of a Basketball Without Borders camp being held in Finland, the NBA has also decided to announce that the Basketball Without Borders that’s scheduled to be held between July 5-8 will be taking place in the Bahamas. Following from the official NBA Press Release:
The National Basketball Association (NBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) today announced that the ninth edition of Basketball without Borders (BWB) Americas will be held July 5-8 at The Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium in Nassau, Bahamas, marking the first time that the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program will be held in the Bahamas.
BWB Americas will bring together the top male and female players born in 2000 from across North and South America to learn directly from NBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and to compete against the best young players from the region. BWB Americas will also include a variety of NBA Cares and Jr. NBA community outreach efforts with youth in the Bahamas in partnership with local community organizations. These programs will highlight the power of sport to promote cultural understanding while teaching the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle and the values of the game, including teamwork, integrity and respect.
With the influx of foreign talent in the NBA only continuing to increase, it’s good to see the NBA spread the game to the Bahamas, a place that maybe isn’t too exposed to the NBA. The Basketball Without Borders camp allows foreign players to show what they’re capable of and maybe even have a chance to make an NBA roster. It wouldn’t be a first time thing for something like that to happen as we’ve seen current players such as Thon Maker and Kelly Olynyk benefit from one of these camps.
Setting up a Basketball Without Borders camp in the Bahamas will give the people of that nation an opportunity in the basketball world that they may not have had otherwise.
