GENEVA (FIBA) – This past weekend marked the 20th anniversary of the first cooperation agreement between FIBA and the NBA that opened the path for many players under contract with NBA clubs to participate in FIBA World Championships, Olympics and FIBA continental championships.

“When the agreement was signed on 9th May 1990 by Borislav Stankovic and David Stern, FIBA and the NBA put in place the most important protocol in the history of basketball after the rules written by James Naismith,” said FIBA Secretary General and IOC member Patrick Baumann.

“The agreement gave all basketball players the right to play for their national teams and still to this day regulates player transfers between both organisations. That was the start of a fruitful cooperation that helped tremendously the promotion of our sport on a global level.”

The appearance of the unforgettable Dream Team and other basketball stars such as the late Drazen Petrovic and Detlef Schrempf at the 1992 Olympic Games was only made possible through this agreement and provided a tremendous boost to the global outreach of basketball and their stars.

Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson became idols for billions of kids around the world, who wanted to follow in their footsteps. FIBA's member federations witnessed a tremendous increase in player's registrations in the following years.

“When we approached the NBA in 1987 with the request to give the opportunity to NBA players to play for their national team in the Olympics and the World’s we thought it was a great vision,” said FIBA Secretary General Emeritus Borislav Stankovic.

“Why should the 350 NBA players, who belong among the best in the world, not play with the best in the world?”

'Only if you play with the best, will you improve your game' – this was the common understanding that led to a constant development of the sport and its protagonists.

Since the agreement was signed, more than 300 players from around the world with valid contracts with NBA clubs have been able to represent their countries in FIBA World Championships, Olympics and continental championships.

The first NBA players appeared at the 1990 FIBA World Championship in Argentina – Vlade Divac and Petrovic for Yugoslavia and Alexander Volkov for the Soviet Union.

At the same time, many international players have gone to play in the NBA to perfect their skills and earn top contracts, allowing FIBA and the NBA to turn basketball into a truly global sport.

Currently 83 international players from 36 countries are under contract with NBA clubs and up to 50 could represent their countries at the upcoming FIBA World Championship in Turkey that will tip off on 28th August 2010.

FIBA