Basketball took over New York City in August during the World Basketball Festival with numerous sports events, cultural activities and performances taking place at locations spread all across the city. Nike and USA Basketball brought some of the world's best basketball teams to New York City and invited friends from around the globe as well as the citizens of the Big Apple to experience the sport and everything around it.
When I received the call from Nike about the World Basketball Festival in New York I had imagined that this would be a serious matter. From the scarce information I had received in advance there would take place a number of sports-related events as well as cultural activities. What actually took place during that one week was a little more than what I had expected.
Even though New York City is not the birthplace of basketball, the city - maybe more than any other city - has a very special connection to the sport: "Basketball is rooted in the Big Apple. So many of the seeds that feed the game are cultivated here, it's only fitting that NYC's marquee basketball venue is called 'The Garden'" (Bounce Magazine, World Basketball Festival special issue).
Almost literally, the World Basketball Festival (WBF) had spread all across the city - uptown, midtown, downtown - and Nike had put us up in the middle of all of it - at the brand new Trump Soho (also home to Rihanna and Vin Diesel at the time...) which for a few days became a major media hub for almost 200 media correspondents reporting on the events. So what was it all about? The WBF was a sports expo, a product showcase, a training camp for the US national team, a social initiative to support youth projects in sports and cultural sectors, an art initiative, a music event of the highest caliber. An enormous organizatorial task that - besides being a corporate initiative - in its result carried an unstrained, relaxed and relaxing atmosphere. I was fortunate enough to be experiencing this with a small group of people from other publications and at one point this trip felt like a school trip. Only that this was New York City!
This feature tries to capture the experiences that I took home with me from this trip. It explains the various events that were part of the WBF experience and takes a look at the concept of the festival and its diverse 'components'. Please use the navigation at the end of each page to jump to the various chapters.
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Jörg / Beinghunted.
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The Ball Room | Giant Project | Make Something!! | Radio City Music Hall | Rucker Park | Apollo Theater | The Trip |
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