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).
The following is a complete list of players participating in the fourth annual BWB Global Camp (rosters are subject to change):
GIRLS ROSTER:
Last Name First Name Country
Chagas Florencia Argentina
*King-Hawea Kobe Australia
Shelley Jazmin Australia
Massey Billie Belgium
Heljic Sara Bosnia and Herzegovina
Anunciacao Lorena Vitoria Brazil
Alves Cardoso Souza Isadora Brazil
Doo Piper Canada
Te-Biasu Sarah Canada
Washington Keishana Canada
Xu Han China
Shan Li China
Yuan Li China
Arias Solmilena Dominican Republic
Niang Haby France
Rupert Iliana France
Bessoir Emily Germany
Senthil Kumar Pushpa India
Berrad Samira Italy
Gomes Ester Ana Mozambique
Budane Carla Mozambique
Sow Mariama Senegal
Rapoo Kutlwano South Africa
Park Jihyun South Korea
BOYS ROSTER:
Last Name First Name Country
Tungo Malcolm Angola
Bolmaro Leandro Argentina
*Caffaro Francisco Argentina
*Farabello Francisco Argentina
Ducas Alex Australia
Green Josh Australia
Stattman Kody Australia
Colimerio Leandro Brazil
Eboua Paul Cameroon
Koloko Christian Junior Cameroon
Lawson AJ Canada
Samuel Tyrese Canada
*Wegscheider Kurt-Curry Central African Republic
Lorca-Lloyd Maxwell Chile
Jiang Haoran China
Ou Junxuan China
Xu Ke China
Samanic Luka Croatia
Krejci Vit Czech Republic
*Khalifa Aly Egypt
Doumbouya Sekou France
Hayes Killian France
*Mathew Sejin India
*Singh Princepal India
Dieng Omar Italy
Kurucs Arturs Latvia
Arlauskas Martynas Lithuania
Dante N’Faly Mali
Gonzalez Javier Rex Mexico
Bassey Charles Nigeria
Udemadu Allen Nigeria
Edu Ariel John Philippines
Balcerowski Aleksander Poland
Faye Biram Senegal
Pecarski Marko Serbia
*Lee Hyunjung South Korea
Parra Joel Spain
Toumi Yacine Tunisia
Akay Mert Turkey
*Garang Anyang Uganda
Paez Carlos Venezuela
*Current NBA Academies Prospect
