After a visit to SKY Trust Thursday and a Habitat for Humanity build on Friday, the NBA culminated its BWB community outreach today with the NBA Cares Legacy Project.

In partnership with Cotlands, a nonprofit organization in Johannesburg that operates one of the most renowned pediatric AIDS hospices for children up to 9 years old, the NBA players and coaches dedicated a new home-based care facility in Soweto. The new facility, jointly funded by the NBA and the De Beers Fund, will provide home-based care for chronically and terminally ill children, serve as a place for caregiver support programs and will have an area for income generation projects.

The location of this center is especially significant to the caregivers, mostly grandmothers, who will no longer have to travel to downtown Johannesburg for support. The grannies will also be able to use the space for knitting, beading and sewing projects.

Following a brief opening ceremony, the players and guests took a quick tour of the house which features sewing rooms, an early skill development center, and shop where the grannies can sell their creations.

The highlight of the event was when expert drummers schooled the group in the art of playing the African drum known as a djembe. The djembes sounded in chorus as the players and coaches put their new drumming skills to the test. Some players even got a chance to show off their dance skills in front of the group.

Back at the camp, the day began by building on yesterday’s HIV/AIDS awareness Life Skills Seminar, Sean Marks and Josh Childress joined with Hoops 4 Hope to speak to the campers about the importance of healthy living in all aspects of their life. After Life Skills, 10 Sprite contest winners joined the campers as they ran through their morning skill sessions.

The afternoon featured a warm-up for tomorrow with All-star Game B and the preliminary three-point contest. The winners will face off at half-time of the All-star game to determine the champion.

Basketball action continued with the Sprite 3-on-3 tournament. Campers showcased their small ball skills as they took each other to the hoop in pursuit of the first place prize. The Sprite contest winners got to test their own talent against the best of Africa as they each played on a team in the tournament.