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o other professional sports league has developed a global footprint like the NBA, and firmly behind that foreign growth is Kim Bohuny, the league’s senior vice president of international basketball operations.
Bohuny joined the NBA in 1990 and in 2010 was promoted to her current job, where she oversees the league’s international basketball development strategies and works with the NBA’s contingent of foreign players, a group that last season was at 92 players, the most ever.
As the NBA’s liaison to FIBA, Bohuny works with USA Basketball on planning schedules for both the Olympics and the FIBA World Cup. But one of Bohuny’s more notable contributions at the league has been the development and growth of the league’s Basketball Without Borders community relations outreach program. It’s a program that now stretches into Africa, Asia and Europe.
“It’s my baby and it’s a program that I am really proud of,” Bohuny said. “Players and coaches love to be a part of it, and it has impacted thousands of lives.”
Under Bohuny’s direction, the league last year began conducting grassroots programs in India, as well, with plans to expand the efforts in that country next year.
“The grassroots area is exploding,” Bohuny said. “So many countries are coming to us to grow the game.”
— John Lombardo
