NBA Academy

The NBA Academy was launched in 2016 to provide a comprehensive development pathway for young elite athletes in their home regions.

[4] The NBA began by partnering with three government-operated camps in China that same year to help develop young Chinese players for professional basketball.

[5][further explanation needed] As of May 2020, more than 25 NBA Academy graduates committed to NCAA Division I schools.

According to the findings of an ESPN investigation, American coaches at three NBA training academies in China told league officials their Chinese partners were physically abusing young players and failing to provide schooling, even though NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had said that education would be central to the program.

One American coach was detained three times without cause; he and others were unable to obtain housing because of their status as foreigners, with one employee describing it as adjacent to "World War II Germany".