NBA Cares continues its commitment to Johannesburg

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, Aug. 31, 2009 -- The seventh edition of Basketball without Borders Africa will once again engage NBA/WNBA Players and coaches in community service projects focusing on education, grassroots basketball development and HIV/AIDS education, deepening its commitment to the African community. Dikembe Mutombo leads a contingent of NBA/WNBA players and coaches including Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh and Dirk Nowitzki as camp coaches.

On September 3, the NBA/WNBA players and coaches will return to the Cotlands Community Center in Soweto, which was opened during BWB Africa 2007 in partnership with the DeBeers Foundation, to help plant a sustainable food garden. NBA Players will join the grannies from Cotlands to help plant vegetable seeds and cultivate the land. Upon its completion, the food garden will serve not only to provide food to be served at the facility, but will also serve as a means of income generation as the vegetables will be sold in the community. Additionally, the seeds will be given to the grannies and mothers who come to Cotlands for them to start gardens at their homes.

As part of the NBA's continued commitment to build places where children and families can live, learn and play, the NBA party will participate in a Habitat for Humanity Build Day on Friday, September 4. Four new houses will be built as part of Habitat's "Ivory Park Project" which aims to recruit 100 unemployed school-aged youth, train them in various construction trades, and then involve them in the construction of 120 Habitat for Humanity houses over a one year period, while they study to complete their high school education. Upon completion of this project, NBA players and coaches will have built nine homes with Habitat for Humanity South Africa since 2007.

Basketball without Borders community outreach continues on Saturday, September 5 at the Soweto Kliptown Youth (SKY) Trust, the longest running BWB Africa community partner. The players and coaches will tour the township of Kliptown, with stops along the way incorporating traditional African dances, and will end at the dining hall, which was dedicated during BWB Africa 2006, where players and coaches will serve meals to the children of SKY.

A Basketball South Africa (BSA) Girl's Clinic will be held on Sunday, September 6 at the American International School of Johannesburg. Led by former WNBA players Teresa Edwards and Nkeysha Sales, girls ages 14 -- 16 will participate in skill stations together with the NBA players and coaches. Following the on-court action, BWB community partner Hoops4Hope will run a 45-minute life skills session for the girls focused on leading a healthy and active lifestyle. Hoops4Hope will also lead the BWB campers in daily life-skills seminars focusing on HIV/AIDS education and healthy living throughout the camp.

Basketball without Borders will take place Sept. 2-6 at the American International School of Johannesburg. The program, a basketball instructional camp for young people that utilizes the sport as a vehicle to influence positive social change, features dozens of current and former NBA players and team personnel as camp coaches for 60 young athletes (19 & under) from 23 countries across Africa. Co-organized by the NBA and FIBA, this year's camp features Nike, EA SPORTS, ESPN, Hewlett Packard, South African Airways, Spalding, and Sprite as BWB Marketing Partners.