THE 13th edition of Basketball Without Borders Asia began its final day with campers taking part in a Q&A with NBA veterans Taj Gibson (most recently with the Washington Wizards) and Rodney McGruder (most recently with the Detroit Pistons) and Detroit Pistons assistant coach Jim Moran.
During the session, Gibson expressed the importance of having the right mentality when playing, while McGruder and Moran both shared the determination, will and focus needed for players to reach the NBA.
Upon the conclusion of the panel, campers proceeded to warm up and prepare for the playoffs, which saw the Boston Celtics (coached by NBA Global Academy’s Marty Clarke) face the Indiana Pacers (Pacers assistant coach Mike Weinar) and the Dallas Mavericks (Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney) match up against the Brooklyn Nets (Nets assistant coach Ryan Forehan-Kelly) in the boys division.
After advancing to the boys championship game, the Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets in the finals, 24-22, after Jacob Furphy made the game-winning three-pointer to cap off an incredible comeback.
On the girls’ side, the playoffs featured the Chicago Sky (Bulls assistant coach John Bryant) against the Washington Mystics (Wizards assistant coach Ryan Richman) and the Las Vegas Aces (NBA Basketball School Dubai’s Phil Galvin) against the New York Liberty (Pistons assistant coach Jim Moran). The girls final saw the Las Vegas Aces outlasting the Chicago Sky, 28-17, which were led by Yeseul Choi and Rebecca Moors combining for 15 points.
The 13th BWB Asia Camp culminated with the Awards Ceremony, which recognized Sienna Harvey and Jacob Furphy as the Kim Bohuny BWB Asia 2023 Camp MVP for the girls and boys division, respectively. The event was attended by Ralph Rivera (NBA EME Managing Director), Kosta Iliev (FIBA National Federations & Sport Senior Manager), HE Saood Al Hosani (Undersecretary, Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi) and HE Salah Mohamed Al Geziry (Director General for Tourism, Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi).
In addition to the camper activities, BWB Asia featured basketball development programming for local basketball stakeholders, including referees and coaches.
Thirteen referees learned under NBA Referee Operatio ns staff Don Hudson and Matthew Augustin, who discussed a variety of topics including referee mechanics and coverages, court presence and hand signals. On June 4, BWB Asia hosted an NBA and FIBA-led coaches clinic that featured NBA assistant coaches John Bryant (Chicago Bulls), Sean Sweeney (Dallas Mavericks) and Mike Weinar (Indiana Pacers) who shared their knowledge to 100 coaches.
Bryant and Sweeney spoke about the fundamentals of passing and shooting, respectively, while Weinar focused on the importance of ball handling as well as individual defense and team defensive rotations.