Phoenix Suns guard Brandon Knight and former NBA player DeCovan “Dee” Brown will tip off NBA FIT Week in the Philippines by training elite Filipino athletes and coaches at this year’s Gatorade NBA Training Center, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Gatorade announced today. The 2016 Gatorade NBA Training Center will be held at the Gatorade Hoops Center at Mandaluyong City on July 19.
Returning
for the third consecutive year, the Gatorade NBA Training Center will gather experts
in basketball, fitness and conditioning, and nutrition to share best practices and
learnings with elite local athletes and coaches. NBA FIT Week, which begins July 19 in the
Philippines, will highlight the importance of healthy, active lifestyles through
three pillars: be active, eat healthy, and play together. Additional NBA FIT Week activities include an
interactive fan event featuring Globe Telecom’s sports ambassadors at the BGC
Amphitheater on July 20, a full-day health and wellness event sponsored by the
NBA Store, and an NBA Cares clinic for 13-year-old boys and girls from Special
Olympics Philippines at TriNoma Activity Center on July 21.
“Being
a great player is the product of maintaining good workout, eating and sleeping
habits,” said Knight. “I’m looking
forward to participating in NBA FIT Week and teaching talented young players in
the Philippines the importance of fitness and nutrition both on and off the
court.”
“I’m
excited to visit the Philippines for the first time and experience the passion that
Filipino fans have for basketball,” said Brown.
“Having had the opportunity to work in the NBA, WNBA, and NBA D-League,
I look forward to sharing my coaching knowledge and providing valuable insights
on fitness and conditioning to help athletes and coaches elevate their games to
the next level.”
The
Gatorade NBA Training Center on July 19 will feature both Knight and Brown running
a basketball clinic for Filipino college basketball players and Brown sharing his
coaching philosophies with professional and collegiate coaches in an exclusive
coaches session.
Knight,
a 6’3” guard from the University of Kentucky, was selected eighth overall by
the Detroit Pistons in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Knight spent 2013-15 with the Milwaukee Bucks before joining the Phoenix
Suns midway through the 2015 season and averaged 19.6 points, 5.1 assists and 3.9
rebounds per game for the Suns last season.
Brown
played for the Boston Celtics (1990-98), Toronto Raptors (1998-00) and Orlando
Magic (2000-02) during his 12-year NBA career and won the Slam Dunk Contest at
NBA All-Star 1991. Following his
retirement as a player, Brown served as head coach of the WNBA’s Orlando
Miracle (2002) and San Antonio Silver Stars (2004) prior to joining the NBA
D-League’s Springfield Armor as head coach (2009-11). Brown most recently served as an assistant
coach for the Pistons (2011-13) and Sacramento Kings (2013-15).
Follow
Gatorade on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gatoradeph to learn more about the Gatorade
NBA Training Center Philippines. For all
things NBA, visit www.nba.com
and follow the league on Facebook (www.facebook.com/philsnba) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/nba_
About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media
business built around three professional sports leagues: the National
Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the
NBA Development League. The league has
established a major international presence with games and programming in 215
countries and territories in 49 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more
than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2015-16
season featured 100 international players from 37 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA.com and the
NBA app, which achieved record traffic during the 2014-15 season, as well as
NBA TV. The NBA has created one of the
largest social media communities in the world, with more than one billion likes
and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses
important social issues by working with internationally recognized
youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development,
and health-related causes.
About
Gatorade
Gatorade
is a sports drink brand formulated to increase endurance, sustain energy and
provide hydration. Backed up by 40 years
of science and research, it is a winning formula guaranteed to improve
performance, break physical limits and make winners out of many athletes. The Gatorade Company, Inc. is a manufacturer
of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of
sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and distributed in
over 80 countries.
