Future stars get chance of a lifetime at Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE (U.S.) - A record 18 international players from 14 countries are set to participate in the NBA's Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest, Rising Stars game, and the NBA All-Star Game itself this weekend.

But before 26 of the most famous basketball players in the world take the court in Sunday's star-studded affair - not to mention the 20 who will do battle in Friday's Rising Stars game - 63 potential future stars consisting of boys and girls from 31 countries will participate in the fifth annual Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global Camp to be held at Queens University of Charlotte from Friday to Sunday.

A global development and community outreach partnership between the NBA and FIBA, BWB has been conducted annually since 2001 with 56 camps in 35 cities across 28 countries on six continents. Focused on elite talent, BWB has reached more than 3,300 participants from 129 countries and territories.

Four NBA All-Star 2019 participants are BWB alumni. Joel Embiid will play in the main game on Sunday while Deandre Ayton, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Lauri Markkanen will compete in the Rising Stars game on Friday.

The impact of the BWB program has been significant in identifying and developing talent. Some 55 former campers have been signed or drafted into the NBA since the first BWB Camp took place 18 years ago. On the opening day of the 2018-19 season, there were 27 BWB alumni on NBA rosters.

In 2017, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum shared the BWB Africa experience with the late FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann .

Two of them, Nic Batum of France and Spain's Willy Hernangomez, now play professionally in Charlotte where this NBA All-Star weekend is hosted by the Charlotte Hornets, the NBA team owned by North Carolina native and FIBA Hall of Famer, Michael Jordan.

Batum was a 16-year-old camper at BWB Europe in 2005.

"That was huge because that camp, is taking your first step into the NBA," the Frenchman said to FIBA.basketball. "It's what the NBA looks like. You have NBA coaches coaching you. You have NBA players there coaching you so that's a different culture, a different environment than we are used to seeing at that time."

The then Le Mans prodigy was elated to take part.

"It was an honor to be selected for it, like you are part of the 50 best players in your generation, the best 50 in your continent," Batum recalled.

He said it gave him confidence to work harder, "because you can also see where you are compared to the other guys from your continent. You know, all of the best, and I wasn't the best at that time."

The teenage Batum also liked the swag that came with being selected, the clothing, the shoes, the bags.

"You go home with all those packages and then you can go out and wear the same clothes for the next two months," he said with a wry smile.

Now, as an NBA player for 11 years, who has also represented France in almost every major senior competition since 2009, Batum's locker is always full of new gear.

Guillermo "Willy" Hernangomez was also 16 and just in his second year of playing the game when he was invited to BWB Europe in 2011.

"It was a great learning experience. We had the NBA mentality in practicing hard. It's a great opportunity for all the kids (coming to Charlotte) who are looking forward to getting better and having a chance to play in the NBA in the future," said the 7ft (2.11m) big man.

He remembered the camp's intensity and being taught a respect for the game. His tutors included Spain's own Serge Ibaka and Kenneth Faried, an All-Star Five member of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 after helping the USA win the title.

"It really helped me to see how much work I had to put in if I wanted to play in the future as a professional even if just in the Spanish League," Hernangomez noted.

That's an observation shared by his Spanish national teammate Marc Gasol, who has represented his country at FIBA Basketball World Cups, FIBA EuroBaskets and Olympic Games."

"I thought it was a huge, beautiful experience for me at that time," said the three-time NBA All-Star who took part in the BWB Europe camp in 2003. "It puts you around so many kinds of guys. It's showing you who are the best guys around the country or the European championship, or worldwide, and where are you at. And it shows you how far you have to work."

Like Batum, Gasol says the BWB Camp gave him a measure of where he was and where he needed to be.

"I remember too, like a lot of guys that they were, you know, really hot and supposed to be like the next (big thing), they were the whiskey at the time though. They are nowhere to be found now."

He says that is where he learned what he needed to do, "taking it step by step, doing all the right things every day, you know, giving into your team. Those are things that, at the end of the day paid the dividends. If you think at that age that I'm the best, that I don't have to do this and things like that, then you're going to pay for that too."

Thon Maker and Frank Ntilikina at BWB Global 2016 (Photos courtesy of NBAE)

Finland's Lauri Markkanen (seen in main photo), a second-year pro with the Chicago Bulls, led his country at FIBA EuroBasket 2017. Even though both his parents were professional basketball players in Finland, he wasn't thinking about it that way before attending the Europe 2014 and Global 2015 BWB Camps.

"At that point, I was just playing basketball for fun and I had great friends in basketball. I never thought it would actually be a career of mine, so I was just having a good time and enjoying the experience," he revealed.

BWB changed that.

"It gave me confidence. I thought I played well there (at the Global Camp). A lot of good players and a couple of them (Dragan Bender, Jamal Murray) are in the NBA now. I think it was the year after the All Star weekend, that fall when I moved out of my home town to take basketball serious somewhere else and joined the (NBA) Academy. It had an effect for sure."

As these international players who have successfully made the jump from a BWB Camp to the NBA will attest, the honor of being selected and attending BWB doesn't get you there, it shows you the skill sets, the path and the discipline that might. And that is no small thing.

NBA Basketball Without Borders Alumni as of opening day of 2018-19 season

Player	BWB Camp(s)	Year(s)	Nationality	Current NBA Team
Milos Teodosic	Europe	2001	Serbia	LA Clippers
Luc Mbah a Moute	Africa	2003	Cameroon	LA Clippers
Danilo Gallinari	Europe	2003	Italy	LA Clippers
Marc Gasol	Europe	2003	Spain	Toronto Raptors
Marco Belinelli	Europe	2004	Italy	San Antonio Spurs
Nicolas Batum	Europe	2005	France	Charlotte Hornets
Omri Casspi	Europe	2005	Israel	Memphis Grizzlies
Tomas Satoransky	Europe	2007	Czech Republic	Washington Wizards
Enes Kanter	Europe	2008	Turkey	Portland Trailblazers
Nikola Mirotic	Europe	2008	Montenegro	Milwaukee Bucks
Jonas Valanciunas	Europe	2008	Lithuania	Memphis Grizzlies
Kelly Olynyk	Americas	2009	Canada	Miami Heat
Gorgui Dieng	Africa	2009	Senegal	Minnesota Timberwolves
Dario Saric	Europe	2010	Croatia	Minnesota Timberwolves
Joel Embiid	Africa	2011	Cameroon	Philadelphia 76ers
Guillermo Hernangomez	Europe	2011	Spain	Charlotte Hornets
Pascal Siakam	Africa	2012	Cameroon	Toronto Raptors
Ante Zizic	Europe	2014	Croatia	Cleveland Cavaliers
Lauri Markkanen	Europe, Global	2014, 2015	Finland	Chicago Bulls
Jamal Murray	Global	2015	Canada	Denver Nuggets
Kostas Antetokounmpo	Africa	2015	Greece	Dallas Mavericks
Dragan Bender	Global	2015	Croatia	Phoenix Suns
Thon Maker	Americas, Global	2015, 2016	South Sudan	Detroit Pistons
Frank Ntilikina	Europe, Global	2015, 2016	France	New York Knicks
Deandre Ayton	Global	2016	Bahamas	Phoenix Suns
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Global	2016	Canada	LA Clippers
Isaac Bonga	Europe, Global	2016, 2017	Germany	Los Angeles Lakers

Bold = 2019 NBA All Star Weekend Participant

As of the All-Star Weekend, the number of BWB alumni had increased by one as Bruno Caboclo of Brazil was signed last week by the Memphis Grizzlies for the rest of this season and next year.

Who makes the journey from this camp back to the NBA or WNBA is a story to follow.

FIBA