All-Star Wheelchair Classic, and will be coached
by fellow Rollin' Bobcat David Kiley.
Watch the interview with Kiley | Watch the interview with Langford
Community Relations - Fitness and Recreation
FEBRUARY 14, 2008 - David Kiley and Donnie Langford will be heading to New Orleans to represent the Charlotte Rollin' Bobcats, the wheelchair basketball affiliate of the Charlotte Bobcats at the 2008 NBA/NWBA All-Star Wheelchair Classic.
Langford will be playing for the East team, which will be coached by Kiley. The teams were announced by the NBA last week. The game will be held on Thursday, Feb.14 at 5:00 p.m. CT at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center during NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas.
With his nomination to coach the East team, David Kiley has done everything in the All-Star game but referee. He represented the Rollin' Bobcats as a player at the 2006 game in Houston and as commissioner of the NWBA, was instrumental in the creation of the first NBA/NWBA All-Star Wheelchair Classic in 1998, working with the league to transition the game from an exhibition to a true All-Star event. Considered to be one of the greatest wheelchair players of all time, Kiley now coaches the JV and Prep Rollin' Bobcats junior teams both of which are nationally ranked.
A six-time member of U.S. Paralympic Team, winning gold medals in Toronto 1976 and Seoul 1988, Kiley played on the USA National Team for over 20 years. He was a six-time NWBA Tournament MVP and was elected to NWBA Hall of Fame in 2000. An all-around athlete, Kiley won four gold medals in track at the Toronto Paralympics and took home two gold and two silver medals in downhill skiing at the 1992 Winter Paralympics in Albertville, France.
This is the third time that Langford has been named to the NBA-NWBA All-Star Game, having previously played in Philadelphia in 2002 and Los Angeles in 2004. A long distance shooter with a deadly old school bank shot, Langford is still at the top of his game after playing for 27 years.
Already named to the Carolina Conference Hall of Fame, Langford was named MVP of 1996 National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament in Portland, the first of Charlotte's two NWBA national championship teams ('96 and '98) that he played on. He has also represented the USA in tournaments in London and Madrid.
As part of the NBA Cares All-Star community outreach activities, the NWBA All-Stars will host their annual basketball clinic on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 6:00 p.m. CT, for over 75 young athletes, some of them also wheelchair-users, at Dryades YMCA in New Orleans.
“The Rollin' Bobcats have been an important part of our basketball family since the beginning," said Bobcats president Fred Whitfield. "We are honored to have Dave and Donnie represent the organization in New Orleans and wish them great success."
A tradition started during NBA All-Star 1998, the NBA/NWBA All-Star Wheelchair Classic features top wheelchair athletes selected from wheelchair teams that are members of the NWBA and affiliated with NBA teams. For more information on the NWBA, go to www.NWBA.org.
The National Wheelchair Basketball Association is comprised of over 200 basketball teams within twenty-two conferences. Founded in 1948, just one year after the NBA, the NWBA today consists of men's, women's, intercollegiate, and youth teams throughout the United States of America and Canada.
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