The NBA and FIBA announced plans on Monday to "host a developmental camp for male and female players in Cuba, in the first such initiative" by a U.S. pro sports league since the U.S. and the "communist-ruled island embarked on a diplomatic thaw in December," according to Steve Ginsburg of REUTERS. Retired NBA players Steve Nash and Dikembe Mutombo and former WNBA player Ticha Penicheiro will lead the camp, set for April 23-26 in Havana. The NBA and FIBA will also "refurbish three basketball courts and host youth basketball clinics at two Havana locations." Cuba has a "long history of basketball" and has participated in four world championships, but its players' links to the NBA "have been limited by a 50-year standoff" between Cuba and the U.S. The U.S. and Cuba agreed on Dec. 17 to "restore diplomatic ties after more than a half century of tensions." FIBA President Horacio Muratore said in a statement it was "extremely gratifying" to see Cuba hosting the camp. Cuba allows some of its "top athletes to play in professional leagues abroad as long as Cuban sports officials retain the right to recall those players for international events or domestic competition." But "so far that system has not been tested in U.S. sports because of restrictions imposed by the American embargo" (REUTERS, 4/6).
