THREE CANADIANS SELECTED TO PLAY IN FIRST-EVER BASKETBALL WITHOUT BORDERS GLOBAL CAMP

TORONTO, ON - The National Basketball Association (NBA) and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) have announced the campers and coaches for the first-ever Basketball without Borders (BWB) Global Camp during NBA All-Star. Eddie Ekiyor (New Hampton School), Justin Jackson (Findlay Prep) and Jamal Murray (Orangeville Prep) will represent Canada at the inaugural event, held February 13-15 at Baruch College in Manhattan as part of NBA All-Star 2015 in New York City.



The top 39 players, ages 16-18, from 23 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe were selected to play in this camp. With three of the players being Canadian, Canada Basketball Executive Director Michele O’Keefe was ecstatic. “I congratulate Jamal, Justin and Eddie for this extraordinary honour. It is essential that players learn the international game, and these three young men have a tremendous opportunity to absorb knowledge from some of the best in the world.”



Along with developing their games, Basketball without Borders Global campers will take part in the NBA FIT All-Star Celebration, a city-wide event which brings fitness programming to kids throughout New York City. The campers will also participate in daily life skills seminars focusing on character-building and leadership development.



“Basketball’s popularity in Canada is at an all-time high, in part because of the record number of Canadians in the league this year and in part due to the Raptors’ success,” said Dan MacKenzie, Vice President & Managing Director, NBA Canada. “These three athletes being selected exemplifies the growing talent base in this country and the growing popularity of the game internationally.”



One of the Canadian participants, Jamal Murray is grateful to be partaking in this event. "It's always an honour to represent my country and to see my generation fulfilling their dreams. I'm looking forward to playing against the best in the world. It’s great to see my dreams become realities and my hard work paying off."



The athletes have all had a taste of the international game, as part of the 2013 Cadet team that finished 3rd at the U16 FIBA Americas in Uruguay. Ekiyor and Murray also represented Canada at the 2014 U17 World Championships in Dubai.



Ekiyor, Jackson and Murray continue to pave the way for other Canadian athletes, much like their Canadian predecessors, Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Olynyk. Both NBA talents were recently selected to play in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star 2015 - representing Canada in the newly reformatted game that pits first and second-year NBA players from the United States against first and second-year NBA players from around the world.

-- UPDATE --

Nelson Kaputo (St. Michael's College School) has been selected to join his fellow national team members at the inaugural Basketball without Borders Global Camp.



For more information, contact:

Bailey Williams

Manager, Communications

Canada Basketball

Tel 416.614-8037 ex 206

bwilliams@basketball.ca

Manager, CommunicationsCanada BasketballTel 416.614-8037 ex 206