The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced the Jr. NBA National Finals, a four-day tournament to determine one boys team and one girls team that will represent India in the first Jr. NBA World Championship later this year in the U.S.
The competition will bring together eight boys and eight girls teams composed of the top 10 players from each Jr. NBA City Tournament in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kerala, Kolkata, Mumbai and Punjab.
The winning boys and girls teams will advance to the Jr. NBA World Championship, which is to be run from August 7 to August 12 in Orlando, Fla.
The Jr. NBA World Championship, a first-of-its kind global youth basketball tournament for elite 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls teams from around the world, will have boys and girls divisions, each comprised of 16 regional teams (eight U.S. and eight international teams) that will receive all-expenses-paid trips to compete in the inaugural event.
The Jr. NBA World Championship will include round-robin competition followed by single-elimination tournaments. Winners of the U.S. and international brackets will play in the World Championship game on August 12.
"The Jr. NBA World Championship adds another significant layer to the NBA's existing youth basketball programming and development efforts in India," said NBA India Managing Director Yannick Colaco. "The new global youth basketball tournament will provide Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA participants with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase their skills on a global stage and learn the core values of the game from their peers from around the world."
In addition to the on-court competition at the Jr. NBA World Championship, boys and girls from dozens of countries from around the world will participate in off-court activities - often alongside current and former NBA and WNBA players - including life skills education, physical and mental wellness programming and NBA Cares community service projects.
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