Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari participated in the second annual Basketball Without Borders Global Camp during NBA All-Star 2016 Weekend at Mattamy Athletic Centre from Feb. 12-14 in Toronto.
The NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program hosted the top 53 high school aged boys and girls from 27 countries to partake in a three-day camp led by Gallinari and several other NBA players such as Greivis Vasquez, Bruno Caboclo, and Jeremy Lamb, as well as former and retired players’ Yao Ming, Zarko Cabarkapa, Pat Garrity, and Randy Livingston.
The program unites young basketball players around the world to promote the sport and encourage positive social change in the areas of education, health, and wellness.
Over the three-day event, youth players teamed up with NBA players and coaches while they instructed them on footwork, shooting, passing and dribbling skills. There were contests, mini-games with referees, one-on-one sessions and Q&A seminars discussing healthy habits moving forward.
All 53 campers were between the ages of 14-18, planning for further basketball development or for their career acceleration into semi-professional leagues, and hopefully onto the NBA. Several prospects will attend NCAA schools in the next coming years, while others will stay overseas and progress closer to home.
Gallinari is the poster-child for Basketball Without Borders. He knows how important the program is to international students, especially because he attended these camps when he was 15 and 16 years old. His experience as an attendee, and now as a leading scorer for the Denver Nuggets, provided the students with the perfect example of what hard work and persistence can turn into.