Basketball Without Borders

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.”

Basketball Without Borders logo

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

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 an 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

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

YearEditionCity, CountryDatesAttendeesCamp MVP
2001BWB Europe 1[15] TrevisoJune 30 – July 250
2002BWB Europe 2[16] IstanbulJuly 4–748
2003BWB Europe 3[17]
BWB Africa 1[18]
Treviso
Johannesburg
June 28 – July 1
September 2–6
46
106
2004BWB Americas 1[19]
BWB Europe 4[20]
BWB Africa 2[21]
Rio de Janeiro
Treviso
Johannesburg
June 28 – July 2
July 24–27
September 8–11
49
42
99
2005BWB Americas 2[22]
BWB Asia 1[23]
BWB Europe 5[24]
BWB Africa 3[25]
Buenos Aires
Beijing
Treviso
Johannesburg
June 30 – July 4
July 11–17
July 28–31
September 7–12
57
50
49
106
2006BWB Asia 2[26]
BWB Europe 6[27]
BWB Americas 3[28]
BWB Africa 4[29]
Shanghai
Vilnius
San Juan
Johannesburg
June 8–11
June 30 – July 3
July 16–19
September 6–10
46
51
48
114
2007BWB Asia 3[30]
BWB Americas 4[31]
BWB Europe 7[32]
BWB Africa 5[33]
Shanghai
Sao Paulo
Paris
Johannesburg
July 5–8
July 31 – August 3
August 6–10
September 5–9
49
51
48
97
Not Awarded
Jayson Granger
Nika Metreveli
Not Awarded
2008BWB Europe 8[34]
BWB Asia 4[35]
BWB Africa 6[36]
Istanbul
New Delhi
Johannesburg
June 4–7
July 1–6
September 3–8
46
45
98
Nikola Mirotić
Vishesh Bhriguvanshi
Not Awarded
2009BWB Asia 5[37]
BWB Americas 5[38]
BWB Africa 7[39]
Beijing
Mexico City
Johannesburg
July 30 – August 2
August 6–9
September 2–6
47
49
63
Not Awarded
Santiago Nicolas Scala
Cyril Bilong Sonna
2010BWB Asia 6[40]
BWB Africa 8[41]
BWB Europe 9[42]
Singapore
Dakar
Barcelona
June 28 – July 1
August 5–8
September 16–19
44
55
50
Tom Daly
Michel Ange Enanga
Mateusz Ponitka
2011BWB Americas 6[43]
BWB Europe 10[42]
BWB Africa 9[44]
Rio de Janeiro
Ljubljana
Johannesburg
July 29 – August
August 8–11 August
September 1–4
40
50
60
Gabriel Deck
Boris Dallo
Benoit Mbala Mendzana
2012BWB Asia 7[45]
BWB Africa 10[46]
BWB Europe 11[47]
Tokyo
Johannesburg
Moscow
June 13–16
August 30 – September 2
September 13–16
56
58
42
Yuki Togashi
Romeh Elsadani Sameh Ali
Nedim Buza
2013BWB Americas 7[48]
BWB Europe 12[49]
BWB Africa 11[50]
Buenos Aires
Lisbon
Johannesburg
July 25–28
August 15–18
August 29 – September 1
50
50
60
Bruno Caboclo
Federico Mussini
Gerson Domingos
2014BWB Europe 13[51]
BWB Asia 8[52]
BWB Africa 11[53]
Rome
Taipei
Johannesburg
June 2–5
June 13–16
August 5–8
50
47
50
Luc Loubaki
Mohammad Yousof Vand, Ryogo Sumino
Luca Lunneman
2015BWB Global 1[54]
BWB Europe 14[55]
New York City
Las Palmas
February 13–15
June 3–6
50
50
Dragan Bender
Ömer Yurtseven
2016BWB Global 2[56]
BWB Europe 15[57]
Toronto
Lohja
February 12–14
September 7–10
53
40
Harry Froling
Arnas Velička
2017BWB Global 3[58]
BWB Africa 15[59]
BWB Americas 9[60]
BWB Europe 16[61]
New Orleans
Johannesburg
Nassau
Netanya
February 14–16
August 5–8
July 2–5
August 13–16
R.J. Barrett
Kurt-Curry Wegscheider
Francisco Farabello
Omar Dieng
2018BWB Global 4[62]
BWB Asia 10
BWB Africa 16
BWB Europe 17[63]
El Segundo, California
New Delhi
Johannesburg
Belgrade
February 16–18
May 30 – June 2
August 1–4
August 15–18
N/A
66
N/A
63
Charles Bassey
Rence Padrigao
N/A
Deni Avdija[64]
2019BWB Global 5[65]
BWB Europe 18[66]
Charlotte, North Carolina
Riga
February 15–17
June 10–12
63
64
Deni Avdija
Juhann Begarin
2020BWB Global 6[67] ChicagoFebruary 14-1664 Ariel Hukporti
2022BWB Africa 17[68] CairoAugust 28–3160 Thierry Serge Darlan
2023BWB Global 7[69]
BWB Africa 19[70]
Salt Lake City
Johannesburg
February 17-19
July 28-31
40
80
Matas Buzelis
Khaman Maluach
2024BWB Global 8[71] IndianapolisFebruary 16-1840 Will Riley

Notable Attendees

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

References

External links