NAIROBI, Kenya, August 6 – National Basketball Association (NBA) star Juwan Antonio Howard will visit Kenya next week to participate in the selection of Kenya’s top five talent in the on-going Sprite Slam Basketball tournament.
The basketball legend will join top coaches forwarded by the Kenya Basketball Federation in the BWB selection camp where the best 5 players will be selected to attend the “Basketball Without Borders” (BWB) NBA camp in Johannesburg, South Africa between the 2nd and 6th of September.
Juwan 36, currently plays for the Charlotte Bobcats and is a former All-Star and All-NBA power forward.
The Sprite Slam Basketball tournament, which commenced two weeks ago, is sponsored by Coca-Cola East & Central Africa at the tune of US $ 500,000 (Ksh. 40 million).
The tournament features a series of mini-camps in four locations namely Eldoret, Kisumu, Mombasa and Nairobi where up to six players will be selected to compete in the final BWB selection camp scheduled for Nairobi next week (14th and 15th).
The first two Sprite Slam Mini-camps were held in Eldoret and Kisumu between the 25th/26th July where 10 players were selected for the final BWB selection camp. The Slam moves to Mombasa this weekend (August 7th) where another 5 players will be selected.
The Sprite Slam tournament is also being staged in Uganda and Angola and each country will send five players to the BWB camp in South Africa. Program Managers appointed by Miles & Associates International are managing the slams in each of the participating nations.
According to Coca-Cola Senior Franchise Brand Manager for Kenya Ms. Pamela Mutua, the tournament also seeks to promote active and healthy lifestyles among the youth. Ms. Mutua has said Coca-Cola is committed to the development of sports in Kenya through its diverse local and global sporting platforms.
