The National Basketball Association (NBA) and investment company Dart today announced a multiyear expansion of their existing youth development collaboration in the Cayman Islands, which will tip off with the Camana Bay and Jr. NBA Basketball Camp from Monday, July 22 – Friday, July 26 at the Camana Bay Arts and Recreation Centre featuring San Antonio Spurs guard Blake Wesley.
Additionally, as part of the expanded collaboration, Dart will host Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA week in Grand Cayman in November 2024 focused on enhancing fundamental skills and core values of the game, including teamwork, unity, respect, commitment and confidence both on and off the court. The week will include a variety of Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA clinics and programming for players, fans and families, with 3-on-3 tournaments, skills challenges, clinics for aspiring female players and a Special Olympics clinics. More details about the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Week will be announced at a later date.
Dart’s community partnership with the Jr. NBA is made possible by the Kenneth B. Dart Foundation.
“Dart’s long-standing commitment to creating extraordinary places, experiences and opportunities in the Cayman Islands includes decades of support for youth sports through facilities, programmes and sponsorships,” said Dart Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Mark VanDevelde. “We look forward to enhancing this impact through the expansion of our partnership with the NBA, a global leader in innovation, community building and harnessing the transformative power of sport.”
“Dart has been instrumental in helping us grow basketball in the Cayman Islands over the past few years,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum. “We look forward to working together to expand our grassroots basketball development efforts in the years to come and to providing more opportunities for Caymanian youth, fans and families to learn the values of the game and the importance of a health, active lifestyle.”
The Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA, the league’s global youth basketball program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game – teamwork, respect, determination and community – at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents. During the 2023-24 season, the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA reached more than 19 million youth in six countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Wesley was selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft by the Spurs. During the 2023-24 season, he played in 61 games and averaged 4.4 points and 2.7 assists per game.
Fans in the Cayman Islands can follow the NBA on Facebook (Facebook.com/NBALATAM), Instagram (@NBALatAm), YouTube (@NBALatAm) and X (@NBALatAm), and download the NBA App on iOS and Android for the latest news, updates, scores, stats, schedules, videos and more.
About Dart Enterprises
Dart is a Cayman Islands-based investment company founded by Ken Dart that oversees portfolios across multiple industries, including real estate development, finance, retail, hospitality, media and entertainment. For more information visit https://dart.ky.
Established as a family office in the 1990s, Dart has invested more than US$1.5 billion in real estate investment and development in the Cayman Islands to date, including Camana Bay, a 685-acre mixed-use, master-planned new urbanist town and a growing hospitality portfolio including The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa, Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman and other boutique hotels and restaurants. As the largest private investor and employer in the Cayman Islands, Dart focuses its community development efforts on education, youth development and the environment.
About the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. Built around five professional sports leagues: the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2023-24 season featured a record 125 international players from 40 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.3 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms. NBA Cares, the NBA’s global social responsibility platform, partners with renowned community-based organizations around the world to address important social issues in the areas of education, inclusion, youth and family development, and health and wellness.
(Source: DART/NBA)
