Monday 27 February 2023 saw the NBA launch their 14th NBA Basketball school, located at Basketball Australia’s (BA) Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra, Australia.
NBA Basketball Academy Australia has created a thorough curriculum that has been certified by the NBA and will be taught by NBA-approved coaches with the help of NBA coaches, former NBA players, and player development experts. The program will be held in cutting-edge basketball venues and will use actual NBA game balls to give participants a true NBA experience. The program aims to augment basketball proficiency, physical prowess, and personal development by offering on-court skill-building sessions and off-court workshops that cover various subjects, including mindfulness, nutrition, and goal setting.
All student-athletes will be introduced to and trained in the superior training methods used by the NBA Basketball School by the coaches. NBA Global Academy is in a partnership with BA and serves as the NBA’s hub for top male and female prospects from outside the U.S. Up to sixteen elite athletes attend NBA Global Academy each year and train under the supervision of NBA-hired coaches and in collaboration with BA’s Centre of Excellence team and coaches.
The NBA Global Academy offers a year-round elite basketball development program. This program produces top international high school prospects, a comprehensive approach to player development and a clear path to realising their full potential, while also providing training to beginners and players at any skill level.
The academy was founded in 2016 and is a development program run directly by the NBA. The NBA has founded their training centres in numerous countries around the world such as UAE, Uruguay, Spain, Lithuania, Mexico, Kuwait, Jordan, Italy, India, Dominican Republic, China, Brazil, Argentina, and now Australia.
The academy offers training camps every term which is open to all youth basketball players of ages six to 18 years. It has coaches that provide different types of training for players of different skill levels, and the purpose of the school is to motivate and improve young athletes by exposing them to experienced trainers and their true methods.
Many NBA players, including Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, Luc Longley, and Patty Mills, have come from BA’s Centre of Excellence. 2019 NBA Global Academy graduate Josh Giddey became the first NBA Academy Graduate selected in the NBA Draft (by Oklahoma City Thunder) in 2021. The NBA has further ambition to expand the program to other regions in Australia to allow more opportunities to be presented to other Australian student athletes in the near future.