Sacramento Kings Players To Put On Basketball Without Borders In Serbia
Jul 5, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:30 am
(Photo Credit: Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
(Photo Credit: Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
Sacramento Kings General Manager Vlade Divac is returning to Serbia to help European youth basketball players acquire skills at Basketball Without Boards (BWB), a camp he helped start over 16 years ago.
Divac will be accompanied by former teammate Peja Stojakovic and current Kings player Bogdan Bogdanovic at the 17th BWB in Europe from August 15-18 in Belgrade, Serbia.
The first Basketball Without Borders camp was put on by Divac and Toni Kukoc, former Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks player, along with team members from the Yugoslav national team. They worked with 50 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia and Montenegro.
The camp will be hosted by the National Basketball Association (NBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Basketball Federation of Serbia.
BWB Europe 2018 will include NBA cares community outreach efforts, including packing and delivering care packages to young people dealing with illnesses, per CBS 13.
BWB has reached more than 3,200 participants from 127 countries and territories since 2001. Over 50 of the former campers were drafted into the NBA or signed as free agents. A record breaking 24 former BWB players were on opening night rosters for the 2017-18 season.
“We’re very pleased to bring the Basketball Without Borders program to Serbia for the very first time,” said FIBA National Federations & Sport Director, Zoran Radovic. “Belgrade lives and breathes basketball and the country as a whole boasts a wealth of talented young players. We look forward to teaming up with the NBA and the Basketball Federation of Serbia to put the top boys and girls from across Europe through their paces.”
BWB Europe 2018 will feature a number of current and former NBA players:
- Nemanja Bjelica (Minnesota Timberwolves, Serbia)
- Bogdan Bogdanovic (Sacramento Kings, Serbia)
- Gary Harris (Denver Nuggets, USA)
- Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets, Serbia)
- Frank Kaminsky (Charlotte Hornets, USA/Serbia)
- Vlade Divac (Sacramento Kings, Serbia)
- Peja Stojakovic (Sacramento Kings, Serbia)
“Hosting Basketball Without Borders in Belgrade is symbolic for the NBA since the first BWB camp brought together 50 young men from Eastern Europe more than 15 years ago,” said NBA Senior Vice President, International Basketball Operations, Kim Bohuny. “The region has a deep connection to and history with the sport of basketball, and the level of talent in the region and throughout Europe is at an all-time high. We look forward to providing the top young players on the continent with an opportunity to learn from and compete against one another.”
BWB holds other camps around the world including, BWB Asia which was held in Delhi National Capital Region, India from May 30- June 2, and BWB Africa which is set for Aug. 1-4 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
