Teams in Jr. NBA Global Championship have many NBA alumni, connections
Next week, 32 youth teams will travel to Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando to compete in the Jr. NBA Global Championship – a youth basketball tournament for the top 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls teams from around the world.
From Aug. 6 through Aug. 11, these 32 teams will face off in nationally-televised games on FOX Sports.
The event features the Top 32 boys and girls teams that advanced from regional competitions earlier this year, which included more than 15,000 kids from 75 countries. There are 16 international teams (eight boys and eight girls teams) representing Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, China, Europe/Middle East, India, Latin America and Mexico. These are the 16 U.S. teams that won regional tournaments to advance to the Jr. NBA Global Championship:
The boys teams have produced quite a few NBA players including Draymond Green (All Ohio), Jamal Murray (Nike Bounce), Andrew Wiggins (Nike Bounce), Jerami Grant (Quality Warriors), Jerian Grant (Quality Warriors), Miles Bridges (The Family), Tristan Thompson (Nike Bounce), Dillon Brooks (Nike Bounce), Ignas Brazdeikis (Nike Bounce) Josh Hart (Quality Warriors), Anthony Bennett (Nike Bounce), Tyler Ennis (Nike Bounce) and Naz Mitrou-Long (Nike Bounce).
The girls teams have a number of WNBA alumni as well including Ariel Atkins (CY Fair Elite), Candice Wiggins (San Diego Waves), Chiney Ogwumike (CY Fair Elite), Kelsey Mitchell (All Ohio), Kelsey Plum (San Diego Waves) and Nneka Ogwumike (CY Fair Elite).
A number of NBA players have ties to one of these youth teams:
Kevin Durant and Victor Oladipo: The Quality Warriors team that will be representing the Mid-Atlantic Region in the Jr. NBA Global Championship was formed with players from Team Durant and Team Takeover Oladipo in the DMV area. The Team Takeover program has many notable alumni including Oladipo, Jerian Grant, Jerami Grant and Josh Hart among others. Rod Strickland, Kyrie Irving and Danny Green:The K/S Elite All-Stars are representing the Northeast Region in the Jr. NBA Global Championship and this is Irving and Strickland’s team (K/S stands for Kyrie/Strickland) from Westchester, NY. This team is closely tied to the legendary NY Renaissance program. Danny Green’s father, Daniel, is the team’s head coach and Danny’s brother, Dante, is on the roster. Jermaine O’Neal: The Drive Nation team that will be representing the South Region in the Jr. NBA Global Championship gets its name from its home facility in Dallas, TX. O’Neal is the owner of the facility. Bol Bol: Bol Bol played for KC Run (GMC), which is the program that Drive5 Power Elite (Overland Park, KS) often feeds into. Drive5 Power Elite is representing the U.S. Boys Central Division. Shelvin Mack: TSF Mack is part of The Skill Factory in Atlanta, GA, and the Jr. NBA Flagship Network. TSF Mack is tied to Shelvin Mack, who played for the Atlanta Hawks from 2013-2016.Dwyane Wade, Mike Conley, Rick Carlisle, Breanna Stewart and Swin Cash will serve as Jr. NBA Global Championship ambassadors, interacting with players and helping with leadership programs. Vince Carter will be in attendance as part of FOX Sports’ broadcast team.