Basketball Without Borders is a collaborative global development and community relations outreach program between FIBA and the NBA.

History

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."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."Basketball Stars Unite for Goodwill.", NBA, 8 April 2002. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.

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.Freifelder, Jack. "NBA goes global for its future.", China Daily, 16 February 2015. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.

The camps have gradually become a hotspot for scouts, with a substantial 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.Grant, Dan. "Business Without Borders: The NBA and its International Feeder System.", SamePageTeam.com, 29 August 2014. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Players such as Luc Mbah a Moute"NBA Insider: Mbah a Moute changing lives.", Star Tribune, 22 March 2014. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. and Bruno CabocloKoreen, 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. are noted examples.

Though basketball skill are now at the forefront of the camp, its social goal remains equally important. Few campers are expected to become professional players, and one of the camp's stated goals to develop its attendees' life-skills, with an emphasis on leadership and personal relationship, so that they can become 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.Blinebury, Fran. "Young Africans see sport as ticket to U.S. education."Houston Chronicle, 14 September 2004. Retrieved on 8 May 2015. In a given year it was estimated more than 60 former participants were playing and studying in American colleges.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.

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."Masai Ujiri building on hope with Giants of Africa: Arthur". Toronto Star, September 2, 2016.

Format

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."Five picked for BWB camp in South Africa."The Standard (Kenya), 17 August 2009. Retrieved on 8 May 2015.

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.

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."BWB Americas Fact Sheet."NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.

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.Feinstein, Andrew. "Basketball without Borders Americas dedicates NBA Cares Learn and Play Center."UNICEF, New York, 30 July 2007. Retrieved on 4 May 2015.

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, the campers in BWB Africa flown in by South African Airways,Chadwick, Simon & Arthur, Dave. "International Cases in the Business of Sport." , p.378 eLibrary, 2008. Retrieved on 8 May 2015. whilst Nike has outfitted the campers in multiple camps.

Camps

Year Edition City, Country Dates Attendees Camp MVP 2001 BWB Europe 1"BWB Europe 2001." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Treviso June 30 – July 2 50 2002 BWB Europe 2"BWB Europe 2002." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Istanbul July 4–7 48 2003 BWB Europe 3"BWB Europe 2003." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 1"BWB Africa 2003." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Treviso Johannesburg June 28 – July 1 September 2–6 46106 2004 BWB Americas 1"BWB Americas 2004." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Europe 4"BWB Europe 2004." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 2"BWB Africa 2004." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Rio de Janeiro Treviso Johannesburg June 28 – July 2 July 24–27September 8–11 494299 2005 BWB Americas 2"BWB Americas 2005." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Asia 1"BWB Asia 2005." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Europe 5"BWB Europe 2005." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 3"BWB Africa 2005." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Buenos Aires Beijing Treviso Johannesburg June 30 – July 4 July 11–17 July 28–31September 7–12 575049106 2006 BWB Asia 2"BWB Asia 2006." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Europe 6"BWB Europe 2006.", FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Americas 3"BWB Americas 2006." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 4"BWB Africa 2006." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Shanghai Vilnius San Juan Johannesburg June 8–11June 30 – July 3 July 16–19 September 6–10 465148114 2007 BWB Asia 3"BWB Asia 2007." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Americas 4"BWB Americas 2007." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Europe 7"BWB Europe 2007." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 5"BWB Africa 2007." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Shanghai São Paulo Paris Johannesburg July 5–8July 31 – August 3 August 6–10 September 5–9 49514897 Not Awarded Jayson Granger Nika MetreveliNot Awarded 2008 BWB Europe 8"BWB Europe 2008." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Asia 4"BWB Asia 2008." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 6"BWB Africa 2008." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Istanbul New Delhi Johannesburg June 4–7July 1–6September 3–8 464598 Nikola Mirotić Vishesh BhriguvanshiNot Awarded 2009 BWB Asia 5"BWB Asia 2009." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Americas 5"BWB Americas 2009." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 7"BWB Africa 2009." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Beijing Mexico City Johannesburg July 30 – August 2 August 6–9September 2–6 474963 Not Awarded Santiago Nicolas Scala Cyril Bilong Sonna 2010 BWB Asia 6"BWB Asia 2010." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 8"BWB Africa 2010." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Europe 9"BWB Europe 2010." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Singapore Dakar Barcelona June 28 – July 1 August 5–8 September 16–19 445550 Tom Daly Michel Ange Enanga Mateusz Ponitka 2011 BWB Americas 6"BWB Americas 2011." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Europe 10 BWB Africa 9"BWB Africa 2011." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Rio de Janeiro Ljubljana Johannesburg July 29 – August August 8–11 AugustSeptember 1–4 405060 Gabriel Deck Boris Dallo Benoit Mbala Mendzana 2012 BWB Asia 7"BWB Asia 2012." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 10"BWB Africa 2012." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Europe 11"BWB Europe 2012." , FIBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Tokyo Johannesburg Moscow June 13–16August 30 – September 2September 13–16 565842 Yuki Togashi Romeh Elsadani Sameh Ali Nedim Buza 2013 BWB Americas 7"Basketball Without Borders, Americas 2013.", NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Europe 12"Basketball Without Borders, Europe 2013.", NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. BWB Africa 11"Basketball Without Borders, Africa 2013.", NBA. Retrieved on 4 May 2015. Buenos Aires Lisbon Johannesburg July 25–28August 15–18 August 29 – September 1 505060 Bruno Caboclo Federico Mussini Gerson Domingos 2014 BWB Europe 13"BWB Day 4 Recap: A Visit to the Vatican.", NBA. Retrieved on 5 May 2015. BWB Asia 8"Basketball Without Borders, Asia 2014 Recap.", NBA. Retrieved on 5 May 2015. BWB Africa 11"BWB Africa Day 4 Recap: Goodbye From Johannesburg!.", NBA. Retrieved on 5 May 2015. Rome Taipei Johannesburg June 2–5 June 13–16August 5–8 504750 Luc Loubaki Mohammad Yousof Vand, Ryogo Sumino Luca Lunneman 2015 BWB Global 1"First-Ever BWB Global Camp Wraps Up From New York.", NBA. Retrieved on 5 May 2015. BWB Europe 14"Basketball Without Borders, Europe 2015.", NBA. Retrieved on 19 June 2015. New York City Las Palmas February 13–15 June 3–6 5050 Dragan Bender Ömer Yurtseven 2016 BWB Global 2BWB Europe 15 Toronto Lohja February 12–14 September 7–10 5340 Harry Froling Arnas Velička 2017 BWB Global 3BWB Africa 15BWB Americas 9BWB Europe 16 New Orleans Johannesburg Nassau Netanya February 14–16August 5–8July 2–5August 13–16 R.J. Barrett Kurt-Curry Wegscheider Francisco Farabello Omar Dieng 2018 BWB Global 4BWB Asia 10 BWB Africa 16 BWB Europe 17 El Segundo New Delhi Johannesburg Belgrade February 16–18May 30 – June 2August 1–4 August 15–18 N/A66N/A63 Charles Bassey Rence Padrigao N/A Deni Avdija 2019 BWB Global 5BWB Europe 18 Charlotte Riga February 15–17 June 10–12 6364 Deni Avdija Juhann Begarin 2020 BWB Global 6 Chicago February 14–16 64 Ariel Hukporti 2022 BWB Africa 17 CairoAugust 28–31 60 Thierry Serge Darlan2023 BWB Global 7 BWB Africa 19 Salt Lake City JohannesburgFebruary 17–19July 28–31 4080 Matas Buzelis Khaman Maluach2024 BWB Global 8 IndianapolisFebruary 16–1840 Will Riley

Notable Attendees Have played in the NBA Ulrich Chomche (BWB Global 2023) Pacôme Dadiet (BWB Global 2023) Tidjane Salaün (BWB Global 2023) Matas Buzelis (BWB Global 2023) Josh Giddey (BWB Global 2020) Bennedict Mathurin (BWB Global 2020) Joshua Primo (BWB Global 2020) Olivier-Maxence Prosper (BWB Global 2020) Cui Yongxi (BWB Global 2020)