The Basketball Without Borders Asia 2019, the 11th edition of the camp, will tip-off today in Tokyo from today (August 14th) and go on till August 17th, the NBA and FIBA announced this past Friday.
Four Indians have been selected for this camp that will feature the top 64 boys and girls from 18 countries and territories.
While Siya Deodhar and Amaan Sandhu will participate in their second successive BWB Asia Camp, Harsimran Kaur and Arvinder Singh will make their debut at this camp.
The girls duo of Siya and Harsimran have been making a name for themselves in 2019. At the beginning of the year, both performed well in the second NBA Academy India's Women's Camp.
MORE: NBA Academy India's Women's Camp - the Springboard
Siya, who hails from Nagpur, received the best teammate award while Harsimran, who is from Punjab, received the Defense Award. A couple of months later, the duo were among four girls selected to participate in the NCAA's Next Generation program.
The boys aren't far behind though.
Sandhu was one among the first 21 student-athletes selected for the first batch at the NBA Academy India in 2017. Since then, he has made it to multiple such camps including the NBA Global Camp in June last year.
Most recently, he represented NBA Academy India in the NBA Academy Games at Atlanta.
Hard work, dedication, perseverance – Amaan Sandhu gets it done!#ACGNBAJump #NBAAcademy@ACGWorldwide pic.twitter.com/MqTNNL0O1R
— NBAIndia (@NBAIndia) August 9, 2019
Arvinder Singh, on the other hand, has only just made his name in the league's development program in the country.
He was one of eight prospects selected, as part of the NBA ACG Jump program in 2019, to be the third student-athlete batch added to the NBA Academy India. Within a short span of time of a few months, he seemed to impress everybody enough to make the Academy's roster for the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta.
Arvinder Singh talks about the #NBAAcademy Games in Atlanta & the rapid growth of basketball in the country! pic.twitter.com/XrMhF0V78U
— NBAIndia (@NBAIndia) August 13, 2019
The BWB Asia 2019 camp will feature a number of current and former NBA players, including three-time NBA Champion Sam Cassell, two-time NBA Champion Kevon Looney (Golden State Warriors), Robin Lopez (Milwaukee Bucks) and Yuta Tabuse (formerly of the Phoenix Suns; Japan).
Former WNBA players Ashley Battle, Allison Feaster and Yolanda Moore will also be seen coaching the top high-school-age campers from throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Current NBA assistant coaches Pat Delany (Orlando Magic), Bryan Gates (Minnesota Timberwolves), Antonio Lang (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Wes Unseld Jr. (Denver Nuggets) will also serve as BWB Asia 2019 coaches. Patrick Hunt (President of the World Association of Basketball Coaches; Australia) will be the camp director. Jeff Tanaka (Chicago Bulls) will serve as the camp’s athletic trainer.
