Thursday July 11, 2019
NAIROBI -- Senegal has been selected to stage the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa 2019 tournament, which will take place from July 28-31 in Dakar.
The tournament, which is organized by The National Basketball Association (NBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is open to top male and female players ages 17 and below from all over the continent.
It aims to help the players from Africa to learn directly from current and former NBA and FIBA international players, coaches and legends and to compete against the best young players from the continent.
"The Basketball Without Borders Africa in Senegal confirms our desire to expand our footprint across the continent," said NBA Africa managing director and Basketball Africa League president Amadou Gallo Fall on Wednesday in a statement.
"With grassroots basketball development remaining at the core of our strategy to grow the game across Africa, BWB remains our flagship development and community outreach initiative where Africa's most talented youth have an opportunity to develop as players and learn important life skills they will carry with them for the rest of their lives."
BWB Africa has previously been held in South Africa (2003-2009; 2011-2015; 2017-2018), Senegal (2010) and Angola (2016).
"FIBA and the NBA have teamed to organize activities to boost the development of youth basketball in Africa. Those initiatives are very important for the continent," said FIBA Africa executive director Alphonse Bile.
"I hope that some of the participants will one day play in the new jointly created Basketball Africa League and benefit from this fantastic opportunity to showcase their talents in this continental league."
More than 1,100 players from more than 30 African countries have participated in the NBA and
FIBA's global basketball development and community outreach program, with 10 former BWB Africa campers drafted into the NBA, including 2019 NBA champion Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors), two-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Luc Mbah a Moute (formerly of the LA Clippers) and Gorgui Dieng (Minnesota Timberwolves).
NIKE, a global partner of BWB since 2002, will outfit the campers and coaches with NIKE apparel and footwear.
In February, the NBA and FIBA announced their plan to launch the Basketball Africa League, a new professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa scheduled to begin play next year.
The NBA has a long history in Africa and opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010.