Beijing, China – June 30 , 2005 – Community outreach for Basketball without Borders Asia in Beijing, China will include a new Reading & Learning Center facility and basketball court, a Special Olympics Basketball Clinic and an HIV/AIDS Awareness event, announced today by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The camp’s participants also will participate in daily educational life skills seminars that address important social issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention and education conducted by world-renowned Tsinghua University.

Beijing, China July 14-17

“Basketball without Borders is one of the cornerstones of the NBA’s global outreach efforts,” said Mark Fischer, Managing Director of NBA China. “This program not only brings young people together from all over Asia for basketball training; it also provides an excellent platform to promote our community focus on education, grassroots basketball development and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in China.”

Community outreach activities will tip off on Friday, July 15, with a Special Olympics Basketball Clinic sponsored by McDonald’s. The event will feature 80 Special Olympics Athletes (age 8-14) at a basketball clinic at the Beijing Olympic Training Facility coached by NBA players and coaches. Participants will be divided into groups and receive various skills training such a shooting, passing and dribbling. The clinic will end with selected Special Olympics Athletes putting their skills to test in the 5-on-5 All-Star Game.

The highlight of Basketball without Borders Asia will be the dedication ceremony of the NBA Legacy Project at the Hui Lei School, a school for children of migrant workers, on Saturday, July 16. The project includes the building of a new Reading & Learning Center facility, consisting of a multimedia room and a library complete with 50 computers and more than 2,500 books, and a new basketball court sponsored by Reebok. A donation of educational materials, clothing and basketball equipment will also be made to the Hui Lei School. The Reading & Learning center demonstrates a joint effort to promote education with the China Charity Foundation, the Beijing Charity Association and US Embassy in Beijing. US Ambassador to China, Mr. Clark Randt will join Yao Ming and the rest of the NBA players and coaches at the NBA Legacy Project dedication ceremony.

EVENT PARTNERS

As a part of the NBA’s Read to Achieve program, the NBA and its teams have created Reading & Learning Centers that provide access to reading materials and technology for young people. To date, the NBA and its teams have created 100 Reading & Learning Centers and more than 200 Reading Corners to enhance local reading programs around the globe. This will mark the first Reading & Learning Center to open in China, and the fourth to open outside the United States and Canada in conjunction with the National Basketball Players Association. As part of Basketball without Borders, the first international center opened in 2003 at Ithuteng Trust in Johannesburg, South Africa, the second center was created at Vila Olimpica de Jornalista Ary de Carvalho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2004, and the third was opened July 2 at the Escuela Benjamín Zorrilla Distrito Escolar 8 as part of this year’s Basketball without Borders Americas community outreach efforts.

On Sunday, July 17, the NBA and FIBA will host an HIV/AIDS Awareness Day with Tsinghua University as part of an ongoing partnership to help generate HIV/AIDS awareness and education in China. In the morning, the NBA players and 30 children (age 5-17) from the Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation will participate in an HIV/AIDS Awareness Event at the Tsinghua University. At the event, the AOS children will share some of their stories about how HIV/AIDS has impacted their lives and then break into smaller groups to spend time and have lunch with the NBA players. L ater that afternoon, Professor Jing Jun, Director of AIDS Policy Research Center and Dr. Alex Hu, Director of the AIDS Policy Training Program will be joined by 12 peer educators from Tsinghua University to lead a life skills seminar on adolescent health and HIV/AIDS prevention for the Basketball without Borders Asia Camp participants at the Beijing Olympic Training Facility.

Led by native son Yao Ming, star center of the Houston Rockets, the inaugural Basketball without Borders Asia featuring McDonald’s, Molten, Nokia, Reebok and Spalding as marketing partners, is scheduled to take place July 14-17 at the Beijing Olympic Training Facility in Beijing, China. Joining Yao Ming as camp coaches will be Mengke Bateer, a former teammate from the Chinese National Team and NBA center, San Antonio Spurs Tony Parker (France), Philadelphia 76ers teammates Samuel Dalembert (Haiti) and Kyle Korver and New Orleans Hornets Bostjan Nachbar (Slovenia).

The inaugural Basketball without Borders took place in Europe in July 2001. Since then, Basketball without Borders has expanded its reach to four continents. In addition to China, the second annual Basketball without Borders Africa will return to Johannesburg, South Africa September 7-12 and Basketball without Borders Americas will head to Buenos Aires, Argentina June 30-July 4. In its fifth year, Basketball without Borders Europe will take place July 28-31.

The NBA’s relationship with Chinese basketball dates back to 1979 when the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) traveled to China to play two exhibition games against the Chinese National Team. NBA games were first televised in China in 1987. Since then, the NBA has continued its efforts to grow the game of basketball through a variety of grassroots events, player tours, coaching clinics and the NBA China Games 2004. Since its founding in 1946, the NBA has become a global phenomenon that transcends national boundaries. With 30 teams in the United States and Canada, NBA games and related programming are broadcast to 214 countries in 43 languages. For more information on the NBA, visit NBA.com.