CAIRO (FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017) - The players at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 were reminded that basketball is much more than just a game as they received important life lessons on a range of topics from two former long-time successful international players.

Boniface N'Dong and Olumide Oyedeji addressed all 16 teams in Cairo as ambassadors of the Players' Workshop on the first rest day at the tournament. Over four sessions spread out over the day, N'Dong discussed having basic knowledge of finances and the importance of having neutral and professional financial advice as well as fair play in the game.

"The mistakes and ignorance that I had relates directly to them," N'Dong said. "When I think back to when I was 18 or 19 years old I had no clue. I didn't even think about my finances and stuff. When they sign their first financial contract they can say 'Oh, somebody talked to us about finances. Maybe I should start going to talk to people. They should start educating themselves earlier.'"

Oyedeji, meanwhile, talked with the players about cultural awareness and professionalism. He urged them to leave their comfort zone to be successful; learn a language; adjust to new cultures and not have them adjust to you. He emphasized always being positive and displaying confidence and shared one of his philosophies: "Share the ball, share the blame, share the glory."

"This is what FIBA is all about, all about its players," Oyedeji said. "It's a great feeling seeing these young men listening to you and enjoying themselves and picking things from you. They might not appreciate it now, but I can guarantee you definitely it will have an impact later in their lives."

The ex-Senegal international N'Dong and former Nigerian national team star Oyedeji - both members of FIBA Players' Commission - drew upon careers that spanned at least one stop in the NBA, lasted over a decade and saw them play in six and 17 countries, respectively.

Canada's Lindell Wigginton said the workshop taught him how to manage yourself financially, how to be a leader on and off the court and ways to be a role model.

"It's really important for us because they were in our shoes once, and now we're in the same position they are to reach the next level," Wigginton said.

Lithuania Rokas Jukobaitis said he enjoyed hearing about the ambassadors' careers and experiences.

"I learned about professionalism. It's very important for me as a basketball player and I think their advice is good for me as a person and as a basketball player," Jokubaitis said. "It's great for all the teams because they introduce themselves to us and we can learn from their careers and have better careers."

FIBA is pushing to implement similar workshops at all world events and a Players' Workshop will take place in Udine at the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2017. Gergana Branzova and Kata Honti, both participants of the Time-Out Project, will speak about communication and presentation skills; interacting with media; and social media at their workshop on 24 July, which will be shown live on YouTube.

You can watch the full session of the workshop from Cairo below:

FIBA