- Partnership will Create School-Based Leagues
for Boys and Girls at 60 Schools in Athens -
The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced new partnerships with Olympiacos and Panathinaikos basketball clubs to create the first Jr. NBA Leagues in Greece. The new partnerships will feature two school-based basketball leagues - the Jr. NBA Olympiacos Basketball League and the Jr. NBA Panathinaikos Basketball League - for boys and girls ages 10-12 at 60 schools in Athens beginning in November.
The regular season for the Olympiacos League will run from November through April, and the Panathinaikos League will run from November through April. Each school team will represent one of the 30 NBA teams and will receive corresponding NBA team branded t-shirts for their games.
“We are very glad to start this partnership with the NBA and launch the first Jr. NBA Olympiacos League in Greece,” said Olympiacos General Manager Christos Stavropoulos. “Our role as a basketball club and one of the top basketball organizations in Europe is to promote the game of basketball, the values of the sport and bring together all the young boys and girls who desire to feel the passion and experience the unique moments that only basketball can offer on the floor!”
“We are delighted to co-organize the first Jr. NBA League in Greece,” said Panathinaikos BC Superfoods CEO Panagiotis Triantopoulos. “The NBA, the leading international basketball institution, joins forces with Panathinaikos BSA to introduce a program aiming to promote our Club’s values of fair play and commitment to success, and catering to the talented young members of the Academies consisting of the next generation of Greece’s basketball champions. The successful operation of PAO BC Academies is evidenced by the more than 400 children on our rosters, confirming the high level of training and services we are offering”
“We are pleased to partner with Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, two of Europe’s iconic basketball clubs, to launch our first Jr. NBA Leagues in Greece,” said NBA EMEA Vice President, Basketball Business Operations Jesus Bueno. “This school-based programme will provide a fun environment for children to compete against one another and not only learn the game of basketball, but also important life skills like teamwork, leadership and respect. We look forward to crowning the first Jr. NBA Olympiacos and Jr. NBA Panathinaikos Basketball League champions in 2017.”
Similar to the NBA, teams in each league will be divided into two conferences and six divisions. In each league, the top eight teams from each conference will qualify for the playoffs, with the top two teams meeting in the league championship following the playoffs to determine the first Jr. NBA Olympiacos and Jr. NBA Panathinaikos Basketball League champions.
Leveraging the excitement of the NBA, the leagues will also promote shared NBA, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos values of teamwork, sportsmanship, fitness and healthy living through competitive league play and Jr. NBA youth clinics.
The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents. During the 2015-16 season, the NBA engaged more than 12 million youth through its basketball participation efforts, with Jr. NBA programs in 35 countries.
For more information on the Jr. NBA Olympiacos and Jr. NBA Panathinaikos Basketball Leagues, please visit http://jr.nba.com/.
For more information about the NBA, fans can visit NBA.gr/, Facebook.com/NBAHellas and @NBAhellas on Twitter. Fans can download the NBA App for news, updates, scores, stats, schedules, videos and more.
About Olympiacos
Olympiacos BC is a Greek professional basketball club which was founded in 1925, and it is one of the most successful clubs in European basketball, having won three EuroLeague Championships, one Triple Crown, one Intercontinental Cup, 1 Greek Championships and nine Greek Cups. Olympiacos BC is a traditional powerhouse of the EuroLeague and besides the three European Championship titles (1997, 2012, 2013), they have also been EuroLeague runners-up four times (1994, 1995, 2010, 2015) and have participatedin nine EuroLeague Final Fours altogether (1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015), making them the most successful European basketball organization over the past eight years.
About Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos BSA has a successful presence spanning 96 years, historically supported by millions of loyal fans carrying great pride from being a member of the Panathinaikos Community. The team’s commitment to success is demonstrated through its six European Championships, 34 Greek Championships, 17 Greek Cups and the Intercontinental Cup won over the years, along with its consistency in being among the top European basketball clubs. Euroleague announced through its official website that “PANATHINAIKOS BSA is the most successful club of the last century” (October 2012).
About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League. The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 49 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2015-16 season featured 100 international players from 37 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA.com and the NBA app, which achieved record traffic during the 2015-16 season, as well as NBA TV. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than one billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.
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