Singapore hosted two youth-oriented NBA events in a span of 11 days, drawing the top young players from the Asia-Pacific region in a landmark event that’s sure to be replicated in the years to come.
Singapore has always been a hub for international commerce. For a little over a week in late June, it was the hub of NBA activity with the successful staging of what was dubbed a “festival of basketball”– back-to-back events aimed at promoting the sport among the Asian youth.
From June 19 to 30, NBA royalty descended upon Singapore for Basketball Without Borders Asia 2025 followed by the first-ever NBA Rising Stars Invitational Asia.
Derrick White, Tyrese Maxey, Joey Crawford, Jared Dudley plus a host of other NBA officials arrived first for BWB Asia, which gathered the top 60 boys and girls in Asia for a comprehensive four-day boot camp.
A few days later, Yao Ming, Lauren Jackson, Ryan Dunn, Oso Ighodaro, and Domantas Sabonis flew in for NBA Rising Stars Invitational, a five-day pocket tournament featuring Asia-Pacific’s top high school teams.
It was an ambitious undertaking, the first of its magnitude anywhere in the continent. It will also be the first of many in the years to come.
“When we signed this multi-year agreement partnership with the Singapore government, we had a vision and I am so happy that we have actually realized part of that vision, the fact that we were able to bring so many NBA experiences to not just basketball players but also to our fans,” said Sheila Rasu, NBA Asia vice president for marketing and communications, told The GAME in an exclusive interview at the conclusion of NBA RSI.
“So with Basketball Without Borders, we had the top players from the region, boys and girls, come to hone their skills and learn from NBA talent and coaches to better their game. And in addition to that, with the NBA Rising Stars Invitational, we actually saw very, very tough competition from around the region, and we hope that through more of these tournaments that kids will at least have hope and inspiration that basketball can be a viable career path and this is one of the platforms to help them get there.”
The Rising Stars Invitational was held at the Kallang Tennis Hub and, more than Basketball Without Borders, was a spectator event. The two finals between Kyoto Seika Gakuen Senior High School of Japan and Onyang Girls’ High School of Korea in the girls division and
Yongsan High School of Korea and Tsinghua University High School of China were played before a packed house, but if anything, a larger audience was possible.
“I think the crowd today was great, we saw a great turnout, we had people lining up outside,” Rasu said. “So maybe next year we need more seats in the building so that we can fit more people because I think people were really excited to come and support these young talents.”
Then again, this was the inaugural event for the Rising Stars Invitational, so there was no way on knowing exactly how many fans would show up. Nonetheless, planning for next year will begin soon.
“I think after this event, we’re going to sit down with all the different partners and stakeholders, debrief, sort of map out what next year’s event will look like. We want to do it, we want to grow the event, we want to make it bigger and better, so I would say the event is back but in what shape or form is yet to be seen.”
What is sure is that Singapore will continue to host, hopefully with more teams participating in the RSI.
“That is definitely the plan. In our first year, we did not want to bite off more than we can chew. We wanted to make sure we put on a world-class event and we felt that even with 11 countries, you’re still talking about more than 200 kids that you’re flying in from all over the region. The plan is to add more markets, so yes, for sure we will add more markets in future years.”
And while Singapore isn’t the largest of NBA markets in Asia, as Rasu explains, it was a logical and easy choice as venue host.
“We opened an office here three years ago and now that we have roots in Singapore, it made sense for us to have some kind of presence in the market,” she said. “And just like the Philippines, where we have an office there and we have activations on the ground, similarly in Singapore, we want to be part of the community and we just felt that this was working with the Singapore government to do that just made sense.”
Banner images from NBA Rising Stars Invitational