PORTLAND (Basketball without Borders) - Korean international Ha Seung-Jin is the latest NBA player to commit himself to the Basketball without Borders program.
Ha, the first South Korean to play in the NBA, will join fellow NBA stars in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, to participate in a series of basketball camps from June 8-11.
The 7-3, 305-lb 20-year-old was the Trail Blazers' second round selection (46th overall) in the 2004 NBA Draft and is averaging 1.6 points and 2.0 rebounds in 70 games.
He started in four games for the Trail Blazers this season, in which he was also assigned to Portland's Development League affiliate Fort Worth Flyers in March.
Basketball without Borders, a global basketball development and community outreach program, will return to four continents in 2006 and will be staged in Lithuania and Puerto Rico for the first time.
The program, a basketball instructional camp for young people that also promotes friendship, healthy living and education, features current and former NBA players and team personnel as camp coaches.
"Through the sport of basketball, it unites young people from diverse cultural, national and economic backgrounds on four separate continents," said NBA Commissioner David Stern.
"The NBA is proud to join forces with FIBA and its federations to bring together young athletes from around the world for such an impactful program that also serves as an essential forum for important social issues such as HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention."
The camps mark a return home for some of the league's top international players, such as Ha, who will be joined by an array of NBA stars.
Since the inaugural camp in 2001, Basketball without Borders has featured more than 120 NBA players, coaches and team personnel from 29 different teams as camp coaches for more than 700 young athletes from nearly 100 different countries and territories. The NBA family and the campers have logged more than 1 million hours of community service participating in Basketball without Borders.