NEW YORK, June 21 -- This year’s NBA Summer of Goodwill tips-off with a Basketball & Books Clinic with NBA Draft Prospects prior to the NBA Draft in New York City and features an assortment of charity basketball games, fundraisers, free basketball clinics and appearances hosted by the NBA or individual players around the world throughout the summer.

The 15 players invited to the NBA Draft , including consensus national college player of the year Jameer Nelson from St. Joseph’s University and Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon from the National Champion Connecticut Huskies, will lead the Basketball & Books Clinic for 50 students ages 8-12 from the Children’s Aid Society New Heights Program at the Dunlevy Milbank Center on Wednesday, June 23.

Each year, NBA players donate millions of dollars and thousands of hours to charity and community outreach programs. While summer is typically a time for vacations, beaches and amusement parks, for many NBA players, summer is the ideal time to continue charity efforts in the communities that support them throughout their basketball careers. During this year’s NBA Summer of Goodwill, a multitude of players will continue a long-standing NBA tradition by hosting hundreds of community events and appearances in the United States, Canada and abroad.

"Giving back to the community is one of the most fulfilling acts that a current or former player can do, especially in the off-season," said Bob Lanier, Basketball Hall of Famer and special assistant to the Commissioner. "Players understand that people look up to them and by returning to their hometown or the city where they played during college or the pros means a lot to the fans and the community.”

Starting in July, current and former players will participate in Basketball without Borders camps in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Treviso, Italy and Johannesburg, South Africa. The focus of Basketball without Borders camps are education, grass roots basketball development, equipment donations and HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness. The 2004 USA Basketball Senior National Team will host military personnel at pre-Olympic games during stops in Jacksonville, Florida; Germany; Serbia & Montenegro and Turkey before heading to Athens.

Since the 1980’s, the NBA has sanctioned basketball games allowing NBA players to showcase their on-court skills while raising money for charities and philanthropic causes that have had an impact on their lives. This summer, nine charity games will be played in diverse markets such as Chapel Hill, NC, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Memphis, New York, Toronto and Uncasville, Conn. These charity games along with free basketball clinics, appearances and fundraisers, give NBA players the opportunity to say “thank you” to the fans that support them and the league throughout the year.

The NBA Summer of Goodwill will culminate with a community event featuring all incoming rookies during the 2004 Rookie Transition Program.

A sampling of events during the NBA Summer of Goodwill:

  • Golden State Warriors forward Adonal Foyle, a native of the Grenadines, will return to the Island of Canoyan to work on the creation of a Reading and Learning Center, which he is creating to provide books, computers and educational materials for the children of the island (June-July).

  • Orlando Magic forward Juwan Howard hosts a week-long basketball camp in Chicago for 300 reading contest winners from the Chicago public schools. The camp includes basketball tutoring, life-skills counseling and reading skills instruction (June 22-25).

  • Philadelphia guard Allen Iverson hosts the Allen Iverson Invitational Slow-Pitch Softball Tournament in Bowie, Maryland to raise funds for local Philadelphia charities (July 9-11).

  • Sacramento Kings’ Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic host a charity golf tournament in Merrillville, Ind. to benefit The Group 7 Foundation and the Peja Stojakovic Children’s Foundation (July 25).

  • Former University of Arizona Wildcats Richard Jefferson, now playing for the New Jersey Nets, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luke Walton will host a basketball clinic in Tucson (July 26-29).

  • New York Knicks guard Allan Houston will hold his annual Father & Son Retreat in August as part of his Father Knows Best (FNB) Foundation, which is designed to help father’s develop and/or strengthen their relationship with their sons (August 13-15).

    2004 NBA/NBPA Sanctioned Charity Basketball Games
    Name: Zo's Summer Groove (hosted by Alonzo Mourning)
    Date of Event: Sunday, July 18
    Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Fla.
    Beneficiaries: Alonzo Mourning Charities; Children's Home Society; 100 Black Men of S. Fl; Overtown Youth Center

    Name: Mike Miller Foundation Basketball Game
    Date of Event: Thursday, July 29
    Location: The Pyramid, Memphis, Tenn.
    Beneficiaries: Memphis Athletic Ministries; Mike Miller Foundation

    Name: Vince Carter Charity All-Star Game
    Date of Event: Friday, July 30
    Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto
    Beneficiaries: Embassy of Hope Foundation

    Name: A Midsummer Night's Magic (hosted by Magic Johnson)
    Date of Event: Sunday, August 1
    Location: Great Western Forum, Inglewood, Calif.
    Beneficiaries: Rowell Foster Children's Positive Plan; Taylor Michael Scholarship Program

    Name: Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic
    Date of Event: Saturday, August 14
    Location: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn.
    Beneficiaries: UConn Foundation - Jim & Pat Calhoun Cardiology Research Endowment Fund @ UConn Health Center

    Name: Chicagoland All-Star Game (hosted by Antoine Walker and Tim Hardaway)
    Date of Event: August 15
    Location: United Center, Chicago, Ill.
    Beneficiaries: The Support Group, Inc., 8 Foundation

    Name: World's Greatest Alumni Game (hosted by Jerry Stackhouse)
    Date of Event: Saturday, August 28
    Location: Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
    Beneficiaries: Triple Threat Foundation; Am. Diabetes Assoc of NC; Carolina Pros, Inc.

    Name: Steve Francis Summer Fiesta
    Date of Event: Sunday, August 29
    Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
    Beneficiaries: Steve Francis Foundation; Clutch City Foundation

    Name: New York All-Star Basketball Classic (Wheelchair Charities)
    Date of Event: Tuesday, September 14
    Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y.
    Beneficiaries: Wheelchair Charities, Inc.

    2004 Basketball Without Borders
    Basketball Without Borders – Americas
    June 28 – July 3
    Fortaleza Sao Joao (Army base), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    Participating players: Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix; Felipe Loez; Eduardo Najera, Dallas; Dikembe Mutombo, New York; Nene, Denver

    Basketball Without Borders – Europe
    July 24 – 27
    La Ghirada Sport Center, Treviso, Italy
    Participating players: Slava Medvedenko, LA Lakers; Jiri Welsch, Boston; Gheorghe Muresan; Vitaly Potapenko, Seattle

    Basketball Without Borders – Africa
    September 6 – 10
    American International School of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
    Participating players: Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, Cleveland; Chris Bosh, Toronto; Shawn Bradley, Dallas; Michael Curry, Toronto; DeSagana Diop, Cleveland; Dikembe Mutombo, New York; Michael Olowokandi, Minnesota; Zach Randolph, Portland; Kurt Thomas, New York; Malik Rose, San Antonio