NBA joins celebrations in honor of first-ever World Basketball Day – NBA.com

World Basketball Day will be celebrated annually on Dec. 21, the day Dr. James Naismith first introduced the game of basketball.
Official release

NEW YORK – The NBA today announced its celebrations of the first-ever World Basketball Day.  Established by the United Nations on August 23 during the FIBA World Cup, World Basketball Day will be observed annually on Dec. 21 – the day Dr. James Naismith first introduced the game of basketball at the Springfield YMCA in 1891.
Nearly 600 million people across the globe play basketball annually and basketball is the second most popular sport in the world, while the number one team sport to play in the United States.  Alongside the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), USA Basketball and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the NBA family will honor the game and celebrate World Basketball Day through various programming such as youth clinics and respective social media campaigns – all demonstrating basketball’s societal contributions.
“The NBA family is thrilled to join the global basketball community in celebrating the first World Basketball Day,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.  “More than 130 years after Dr. James Naismith invented the game at the Springfield YMCA, World Basketball Day is a reminder of basketball’s ability to transcend borders, cultures and languages and unite people around the world.”
This year the NBA family will host the following global celebrations in observance of World Basketball Day:
Domestic
International
Fans and members of the basketball community can join in the celebration of World Basketball Day by sharing your basketball story on social media using #WorldBasketballDay and tagging the @jrnba & @nbacares social media accounts.
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