Dikembe Mutombo leading a 4-day camp for ‘Basketball without Borders’ in Japan – NBA Update
In order to promote the game of basketball internationally former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo will be doing his fair amount of work by holding training clinics in Japan soon.
Working with the ‘Basketball without Borders’ program, Mutombo who has been an international ambassador for NBA since 2009, and will now be holding a 4 day camp.
Taking part in the clinic would be 50 top young athletes from 18 different Asian countries.
"We bring our knowledge of the game and pass it on to young people," Mutombo said. "I am proud to say that there are now about 200 or 250 young men who took part in Basketball without Borders who are now playing in American high schools and colleges."
The most prominent factor in the success of the program has been the leagues’ interest to promote the growth of basketball as a sport all over the world.
For Mutombo, the motivation to spread the game came because of being only the third player from Africa to play basketball in NBA.
The NBA Legend has been working very hard to promote basketball back in his native land ever since he first arrived with the Denver Nuggets in 1991.
"After I made it to the NBA, I said that I didn't want to be the last player from Africa," Mutombo said. "After my rookie year, I went to the league and talked about this and they embraced my idea and started conducting basketball clinics in Africa and that's when I knew I wouldn't be the last African."
Working alongside with the league, Mutombo has been a major factor for bringing the African players in limelight to the exposure of NBA.
The most prominent and recent example of talent from Africa is the Republic of Congo native, Serge Ibaka, who is currently a key figure in the Oklahoma City Thunder team taking part in the NBA Finals against Miami Heat.
Ibaka, who has established the reputation as one of the greatest shot blockers in the game, arrived in the NBA after playing for three years in the Spanish league. He now has Spanish nationality and will represent them in the 2012 London Olympics.
Other key figures who would be available for the camp to be held in Japan include the likes of Houston Rockets Samuel Dalembert, Vladimir Radmanovic who is based with the Atlanta Hawks, Corey Brewer of the Denver Nuggets and a former NBA player Yuta Tabuse.
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