Two Pinoys set to participate in NBA Academy Asia Development Camp

NBA Academy

The National Basketball Association officially announced that an NBA Academy Asia Development Camp is slated later this month, bringing together 32 of the top young Asian ballers.

Hosted by Sport Singapore (SportSG), the camp will take place at the OCBC Arena inside the Singapore Sports Hub on May 8-11.

Overseeing the camp is NBA Global Academy Technical Director Marty Clarke and NBA Academy India Technical Director Scott Flemming. Alongside the two are staff from both NBA Academies in Australia and India.

Participants will go through skills development, anthropometric and athletic testing, and exhibition games, as well as off-court activities that promote cultural exchange. Outstanding individuals could potentially be invited for future NBA basketball development camps, showcases, and programs.

Aside from the camp participants, a team of prospects from NBA Academy India will also be in Singapore for a short-term basketball development program, with will include games against them and the Singapore U18 Men's National Team.

NBA Associate Vice President and Head of Elite Basketball Chris Ebersole shares, "The first NBA Academy Asia Development Camp in Singapore will provide top prospects from across Asia with the opportunity to learn from coaches with professional, collegiate and international coaching experience and put their skills to the test against their peers from across the region. This camp is part of our broader basketball development efforts in Asia, where basketball talent is emerging at all levels."

The camp is an extension of the efforts currently in place by the league for grassroots development across the continent. The NBA already has programs like the Jr. NBA, NBA Basketball School, Basketball Without Borders (BWB) and NBA Academy, with the Jr. NBA already reaching more than forty million boys, girls, and coaches since its establishment in 2007.

BWB, the fruit of a collaboration between the NBA and FIBA for global basketball development and community outreach, has already been in Asia twelve times. As for the NBA Academy, it already has campuses in Australia where the Global Academy is based, India, Mexico (Latim America), and Senegal (Africa). 26 Asian prospects have already gone to either secure a NCAA Div I scholarship or has committed to one, including Derrick Michael Xzavierro of Indonesia (signed with Grand Canyon University), Amaan Sandhu of India (signed with Monmouth), and Hyunjung Lee of Korea (Davidson alum now with Santa Cruz of the NBA G-League).

For the upcoming camp, the league invited a couple of Filipinos to participate: Kieffer Alas, who played at La Salle-Zobel in this just concluded 85th season of the UAAP, and Irus Navarro Chua, who is best known for scoring 121 points in a MILCU Got Skills game.