August 22 to September 01 was a period of much activity for the National
Basketball Association (NBA) in Johannesburg, which participated in this year’s
Sprite Uncontainable Hip Hop Festival in Soweto through a three-a-side
basketball tournament (Rhythm and Rims), on the 25th and also hosted Basketball
without Borders (BWB) from August 29 to the first of September.
EXP was on hand to ensure that both events enjoyed as much positive media
exposure as possible and was also on hand to assist with other media related
and logistical requirements.
On August 22, the Atlanta Hawkes’ Sky Squad arrived in South Africa as special guests at both Rhythm and Rims and BWB.
The engagements included appearances on eTV’s Sunrise breakfast show and
the set of ANN7 24 hour news channel. Radio interviews included Metro FM, 5FM
and YFM.
On the day of the Sprite Uncontainable Hip Hop Festival, after
entertaining crowds with their amazing acrobatic dunking skills, the Sky Squad
enjoyed some airtime with the likes of Channel O, V Entertainment, ANN7, Soweto
Magazine and YFM.
Also present at the event was 11-year NBA veteran Cedric Ceballos, who also
afforded YFM and ANN7 interviews opportunities and interacted with players that took part in the basketball challenge as
well as patrons at the festival.
Rhythm and
Rims was a preamble of sorts to one of the NBA’s flagship annual events on the
continent: Basketball without Boarders Africa, which was Co-hosted at the King
Edward VII School and St. John’s College in Johannesburg, South Africa from
August 29 to September 01.
This year BWB
Africa returned to South Africa for the 10th time and saw NBA Players and Coaches mentor the top 60 under 18 basketball talent from
across the continent and also participate in extensive community outreach initiatives.
Through BWB,
South Africa was graced with the presence of NBA Global Ambassador and NBA
legend Dikembe Mutombo and fellow DRC native Bismack Biyombo (Charlotte
Bobcats); Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng (South Sudan); Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks),
Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers), and Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Serge
Ibaka (Congo), Thabo Sefolosha and Hasheem Thabeet (Tanzania) as camp coaches
as well as WNBA Legend Clarisse Machanguana.
As part of
the daily camp schedule, participants also took part in life-skills seminars in
partnership with Hoops 4 Hope and UNICEF on a range of topics such as
leadership, character development, gender equity and HIV/AIDS prevention and
education.
This year’s
camp was once again directed by Toronto Raptors’ General Manager Masai Ujiri.
NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver was also in attendance, which was also
coincidentally his first visit to Africa.
The coaching
staff at BWB Africa 2013 comprised of assistant coaches BJ Johnson (Houston
Rockets), Monty Williams (New Orleans Pelicans) and former NBA head coaches
Lionel Hollins and Nate McMillan. Athletic trainer Casey Smith (Dallas
Mavericks) round out the coaching staff.
BWB Africa
2013 came with much hype because it also coincided with the announcement of the
NBA’s broadcast partnership with SuperSport, which was announced on Thursday
Night Live with Marawa. The programme is arguably the biggest television sport show
in Southern Africa and was the perfect platform to announce the partnership and
having Adam Silver, Amadou Gallo Fall, Dikembe Mutombo, Kyrie Irving and Thabo
Sefolosha live in studio for the first 30 minutes of the show, was great
positioning both for the NBA brand and the announcement.
In addition
to this major announcement, EXP facilitated numerous interviews wit NBA executives, legends, coaches and players on print, online and broadcast platforms.
On August 28
an exclusive roundtable discussion with four journalists from City Press,
Sunday Times and Financial Mail respectively was hosted with Adam Silver and
Amadou Gallo Fall, in which the NBA’s strategy both globally and on the
continent was discussed.
The first
day of BWB featured a press conference that also attracted numerous media from
South Africa and a few from across the Africa region. 24 media from 22 media
organizations attended and conducted more than 60 interviews in the space of
three hours.
EXP was on
hand to make sure that all interviews were conducted effectively and transitions
between different interviews on various platforms were done efficiently.
Additional
on-site interviews were conducted on-site and in studio at various radio and
television stations like eTV, SABC, DSTV and ANN7 on the second and third day
of the camp and were all facilitated by the EXP PR team.
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