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Basketball Without Borders is a basketball instructional camp organized by the NBA in conjunction with FIBA. It presents itself as a “basketball development and community outreach program that unites young basketball players to promote the sport and encourage positive social change in the areas of education, health, and wellness.”

Organized annually since 2001, 41 BWB camps have been held across 23 cities in 20 countries with over 2,300 participants from more than 120 countries and territories, 33 of whom were later drafted into the NBA. Around 150 different current and former NBA/WNBA players have joined nearly 140 NBA team personnel as staff.[1]

History

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Billed as a “summer camp for 12–14-year-olds designed to promote friendship and understanding through sport,” the initial editions focused on peace and international relations, bringing together youths from former Yugoslavia in 2001 shortly after the Yugoslav Wars and from Greece and Turkey in 2002 amidst tense Greek–Turkish relations, with leading participation from the UN in both cases.[2][3]

From the 2003 editions onwards, basketball became the focus of the camps. The age of the participants grew (17 on average) and participants are now mostly selected for their potential, although the selection process by FIBA and national federations is an inclusive system that sees consensual selections from weaker basketball countries.

2003 also saw the first edition of the camp in Africa, seen as uncharted basketball territory at the time. The camps would later expand to the Americas in 2004 and Asia in 2005, including youth from all around the globe (those from Oceania have attended editions in the latter two mentioned regions).

A global camp was first organized in 2015 in New York City as part of the All-Star Game Weekend, giving an opportunity for selected players, identified as the best in their regions, to have a taste of the game at its highest level. This was announced as a recurring annual event.[4]

The camps have gradually become a hotspot for scouts, with an impressive number of former campers who have made it into the NBA (see Attendees) and college basketball. They are seen as a means of spotting unheralded talent with high upside.[5] Players such as Luc Mbah a Moute[6] and Bruno Caboclo[7] are noted examples.

Though basketball skill is now at the forefront of the camp, the social goal is also still pre-eminent. Few campers are expected to make it as pros and a declared goal of the camp is to develop its attendees life-skills, with an emphasis on leadership and personal relations, to make them leaders of change in their home countries.

Ideally, the personal goal for them is to enter a high school or college in the U.S. to get an education they can use in the future.[8] In a given year it was estimated more than 60 former participants were playing and studying in American colleges.[9]

There is a camp for girls as well with coaches from FIBA and the WNBA; however, it receives far less exposure than the boys tournaments.

Basketball Without Borders and program director Masai Ujiri are profiled in Hubert Davis's 2016 documentary film Giants of Africa.[10]

Format

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Basketball Without Borders brings together young players (called campers) usually aged 18 and under to a single location for a few days (3 or 4 on average). They are identified by the FIBA, NBA and participating federations with input from international FIBA/ NBA players from the region. For example, some players have been chosen for BWB Africa through Sprite Slam camps in the past.[11]

The youths are divided into teams (sometimes after a draft) named after real NBA teams and managed by coaches who are current and former NBA or FIBA players and coaches. They attend daily basketball fundamentals clinics (passing, shooting, dribbling...) with these coaches and participate in individual and/or team shooting games for prizes before playing in tournament-style games against the other teams.[9][12]

Also offered are seminars for the campers to improve their life skills (character, leadership, and health concerns...), normally run by local non-government organizations (NGOs).

The camp ends with an All-Star game featuring the camp's best players. Starting in the 2007 edition, a game MVP and a camp-wide MVP are then elected.[12]

In parallel the organizers also implement social responsibility programs with daily community outreach activities in the local area such as organizing seminars for local youths or Special Olympics. These are supplemented by product donations to local organizations, such as schools, and usually an NBA Cares initiative such as building or refurbishing playing and educational infrastructures.[13]

The NBA and its corporate sponsors pay for transport, lodging and meals for the campers and the entourage of personnel (including a full training staff for injuries). Some of many examples include the La Ghirada center in Treviso that was used in early camps and was leased for free by Benetton Group,[2] the campers in BWB Africa flown in by South African Airways,[14] whilst Nike has outfitted the campers in multiple camps.[13]

Camps

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Year Edition City, Country Dates Attendees Camp MVP
2001 BWB Europe 1[15] Italy Treviso June 30 – July 2 50
2002 BWB Europe 2[16] Turkey Istanbul July 4–7 48
2003 BWB Europe 3[17]
BWB Africa 1[18] 		Italy Treviso
South Africa Johannesburg 		June 28 – July 1
September 2–6 		46
106
2004 BWB Americas 1[19]
BWB Europe 4[20]
BWB Africa 2[21] 		Brazil Rio de Janeiro
Italy Treviso
South Africa Johannesburg 		June 28 – July 2
July 24–27
September 8–11 		49
42
99
2005 BWB Americas 2[22]
BWB Asia 1[23]
BWB Europe 5[24]
BWB Africa 3[25] 		Argentina Buenos Aires
China Beijing
Italy Treviso
South Africa Johannesburg 		June 30 – July 4
July 11–17
July 28–31
September 7–12 		57
50
49
106
2006 BWB Asia 2[26]
BWB Europe 6[27]
BWB Americas 3[28]
BWB Africa 4[29] 		China Shanghai
Lithuania Vilnius
Puerto Rico San Juan
South Africa Johannesburg 		June 8–11
June 30 – July 3
July 16–19
September 6–10 		46
51
48
114
2007 BWB Asia 3[30]
BWB Americas 4[31]
BWB Europe 7[32]
BWB Africa 5[33] 		China Shanghai
Brazil Sao Paulo
France Paris
South Africa Johannesburg 		July 5–8
July 31 – August 3
August 6–10
September 5–9 		49
51
48
97 		Not Awarded
Uruguay Jayson Granger
Georgia (country) Nika Metreveli
Not Awarded
2008 BWB Europe 8[34]
BWB Asia 4[35]
BWB Africa 6[36] 		Turkey Istanbul
India New Delhi
South Africa Johannesburg 		June 4–7
July 1–6
September 3–8 		46
45
98 		Montenegro Nikola Mirotić
India Vishesh Bhriguvanshi
Not Awarded
2009 BWB Asia 5[37]
BWB Americas 5[38]
BWB Africa 7[39] 		China Beijing
Mexico Mexico City
South Africa Johannesburg 		July 30 – August 2
August 6–9
September 2–6 		47
49
63 		Not Awarded
Argentina Santiago Nicolas Scala
Cameroon Cyril Bilong Sonna
2010 BWB Asia 6[40]
BWB Africa 8[41]
BWB Europe 9[42] 		Singapore Singapore
Senegal Dakar
Spain Barcelona 		June 28 – July 1
August 5–8
September 16–19 		44
55
50 		Australia Tom Daly
Cameroon Michel Ange Enanga
Poland Mateusz Ponitka
2011 BWB Americas 6[43]
BWB Europe 10[42]
BWB Africa 9[44] 		Brazil Rio de Janeiro
Slovenia Ljubljana
South Africa Johannesburg 		July 29 – August
August 8–11 August
September 1–4 		40
50
60 		Argentina Gabriel Deck
France Boris Dallo
Cameroon Benoit Mbala Mendzana
2012 BWB Asia 7[45]
BWB Africa 10[46]
BWB Europe 11[47] 		Japan Tokyo
South Africa Johannesburg
Russia Moscow 		June 13–16
August 30 – September 2
September 13–16 		56
58
42 		Japan Yuki Togashi
Egypt Romeh Elsadani Sameh Ali
Bosnia and Herzegovina Nedim Buza
2013 BWB Americas 7[48]
BWB Europe 12[49]
BWB Africa 11[50] 		Argentina Buenos Aires
Portugal Lisbon
South Africa Johannesburg 		July 25–28
August 15–18
August 29 – September 1 		50
50
60 		Brazil Bruno Caboclo
Italy Federico Mussini
Angola Gerson Domingos
2014 BWB Europe 13[51]
BWB Asia 8[52]
BWB Africa 11[53] 		Italy Rome
Taiwan Taipei
South Africa Johannesburg 		June 2–5
June 13–16
August 5–8 		50
47
50 		France Luc Loubaki
Iran Mohammad Yousof Vand, Japan Ryogo Sumino
South Africa Luca Lunneman
2015 BWB Global 1[54]
BWB Europe 14[55] 		United States New York City
Spain Las Palmas 		February 13–15
June 3–6 		50
50 		Croatia Dragan Bender
Turkey Ömer Yurtseven
2016 BWB Global 2[56]
BWB Europe 15[57] 		Canada Toronto
Finland Lohja 		February 12–14
September 7–10 		53
40 		Australia Harry Froling
Lithuania Arnas Velička
2017 BWB Global 3[58]
BWB Africa 15[59]
BWB Americas 9[60]
BWB Europe 16[61] 		United States New Orleans
South Africa Johannesburg
The Bahamas Nassau
Israel Netanya 		February 14–16
August 5–8
July 2–5
August 13–16 		Canada R.J. Barrett
Central African Republic Kurt-Curry Wegscheider
Argentina Francisco Farabello
Italy Omar Dieng
2018 BWB Global 4[62]
BWB Asia 10
BWB Africa 16
BWB Europe 17[63] 		United States El Segundo, California
India New Delhi
South Africa Johannesburg
Serbia Belgrade 		February 16–18
May 30 – June 2
August 1–4
August 15–18 		N/A
66
N/A
63 		Nigeria Charles Bassey
Philippines Rence Padrigao
N/A
Israel Deni Avdija[64]
2019 BWB Global 5[65]
BWB Europe 18[66] 		United States Charlotte, North Carolina
Latvia Riga 		February 15–17
June 10–12 		63
64 		Israel Deni Avdija
France Juhann Begarin
2020 BWB Global 6[67] United States Chicago February 14–16 64 Germany Ariel Hukporti
2022 BWB Africa 17[68] Egypt Cairo August 28–31 60 Central African Republic Thierry Serge Darlan
2023 BWB Global 7[69]
BWB Africa 19[70] 		United States Salt Lake City
South Africa Johannesburg 		February 17–19
July 28–31 		40
80 		Lithuania Matas Buzelis
South Sudan Khaman Maluach
2024 BWB Global 8[71] United States Indianapolis February 16–18 40 Canada Will Riley

Notable Attendees

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Have played in the NBA Have been drafted by NBA teams Have been regularly involved as staff

References

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  1. ^ "Basketball Without Borders Mission.", NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Basketball Without Borders': National Basketball Association stars to conduct camp for children from former Yugoslavia."UN, Vienna, 26 March 2001. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Basketball Stars Unite for Goodwill.", NBA, 8 April 2002. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  4. ^ Freifelder, Jack. "NBA goes global for its future.", China Daily, 16 February 2015. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  5. ^ Grant, Dan. "Business Without Borders: The NBA and its International Feeder System.", SamePageTeam.com, 29 August 2014. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  6. ^ "NBA Insider: Mbah a Moute changing lives.", Star Tribune, 22 March 2014. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  7. ^ Koreen, Eric. "Unplugged: Raptors’ Masai Ujiri and Bruno Caboclo’s personal advisor on Toronto’s draft pick.", National Post, 28 June 2014. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  8. ^ Blinebury, Fran. "Young Africans see sport as ticket to U.S. education."Houston Chronicle, 14 September 2004. Retrieved on 8 May 2015.
  9. ^ a b Feinstein, Andrew. "NBA's Basketball Without Borders focuses on more than just the sport."Houston Chronicle, Johannesburg, 2 September 2011. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Masai Ujiri building on hope with Giants of Africa: Arthur". Toronto Star, September 2, 2016.
  11. ^ "Five picked for BWB camp in South Africa."The Standard (Kenya), 17 August 2009. Retrieved on 8 May 2015.
  12. ^ a b "BWB Americas Fact Sheet."NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  13. ^ a b Feinstein, Andrew. "Basketball without Borders Americas dedicates NBA Cares Learn and Play Center."UNICEF, New York, 30 July 2007. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  14. ^ Chadwick, Simon & Arthur, Dave. "International Cases in the Business of Sport." Archived 2015-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, p.378 eLibrary, 2008. Retrieved on 8 May 2015.
  15. ^ "BWB Europe 2001." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  16. ^ "BWB Europe 2002." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  17. ^ "BWB Europe 2003." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  18. ^ "BWB Africa 2003." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  19. ^ "BWB Americas 2004." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  20. ^ "BWB Europe 2004." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  21. ^ "BWB Africa 2004." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  22. ^ "BWB Americas 2005." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  23. ^ "BWB Asia 2005." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  24. ^ "BWB Europe 2005." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  25. ^ "BWB Africa 2005." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  26. ^ "BWB Asia 2006." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  27. ^ "BWB Europe 2006.", FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  28. ^ "BWB Americas 2006." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  29. ^ "BWB Africa 2006." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  30. ^ "BWB Asia 2007." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  31. ^ "BWB Americas 2007." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  32. ^ "BWB Europe 2007." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  33. ^ "BWB Africa 2007." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  34. ^ "BWB Europe 2008." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  35. ^ "BWB Asia 2008." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  36. ^ "BWB Africa 2008." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  37. ^ "BWB Asia 2009." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  38. ^ "BWB Americas 2009." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  39. ^ "BWB Africa 2009." Archived 2015-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  40. ^ "BWB Asia 2010." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  41. ^ "BWB Africa 2010." Archived April 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  42. ^ a b "BWB Europe 2010." Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  43. ^ "BWB Americas 2011." Archived September 18, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  44. ^ "BWB Africa 2011." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  45. ^ "BWB Asia 2012." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  46. ^ "BWB Africa 2012." Archived May 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  47. ^ "BWB Europe 2012." Archived April 3, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  48. ^ "Basketball Without Borders, Americas 2013.", NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  49. ^ "Basketball Without Borders, Europe 2013.", NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  50. ^ "Basketball Without Borders, Africa 2013.", NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.
  51. ^ "BWB Day 4 Recap: A Visit to the Vatican.", NBA. Retrieved on 5 May 2015.
  52. ^ "Basketball Without Borders, Asia 2014 Recap.", NBA. Retrieved on 5 May 2015.
  53. ^ "BWB Africa Day 4 Recap: Goodbye From Johannesburg!.", NBA. Retrieved on 5 May 2015.
  54. ^ "First-Ever BWB Global Camp Wraps Up From New York.", NBA. Retrieved on 5 May 2015.
  55. ^ "Basketball Without Borders, Europe 2015.", NBA. Retrieved on 19 June 2015.
  56. ^ "NBA.com: Basketball Without Borders, Global Camp 2016 Recap". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  57. ^ "NBA, FIBA and FBA to host first Basketball without Borders camp in Finland". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  58. ^ "NBA.com: Basketball without Borders Global Camp 2017". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  59. ^ "BLOG: Basketball Without Borders Africa". global.nba.com. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
  60. ^ "NBA.com: BWB Americas Daily Blog From the Bahamas". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  61. ^ "NBA.com: NBA, FIBA and Israel Basketball Association to Host First Basketball Without Borders Camp in Israel". www.nba.com. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  62. ^ "2018 Basketball Without Borders preview, full roster". Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  63. ^ "Jokic, Vucevic Headline Basketball Without Borders Europe 2018". global.nba.com. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  64. ^ "Sin bivšeg Zvezdinog igrača MVP kampa "Košarka bez granica"". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  65. ^ "2019 NBA All-Star Fifth Annual Basketball Without Borders Global Camp". charlestonchronicle.net. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  66. ^ "64 top boys and girls from 26 European countries head to Latvia for 18th Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp". pr.nba.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  67. ^ "Elite international prospects highlight 6th Basketball Withouti Borders Global Camp". Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  68. ^ "BWB Africa will be held for the first time in Egypt in August". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  69. ^ "Top international prospects to travel to Salt Lake City for seventh annual Basketball Without Borders Global Camp". Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  70. ^ "Egypt's Hassan, Malauch of South Sudan named MVPs of BWB Africa camp". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  71. ^ "Eighth annual Basketball Without Borders Global camp set for NBA All-Star 2024". Retrieved 2024-02-21.
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