--- title: NBA Is Going to Cuba for Basketball Clinic description: Under the auspices of the Basketball Without Borders program, the NBA will bring Spanish-speaking players to meet their Cuban counterparts. canonical: https://time.com/3773404/nba-cuba-basketball-clinic/ author: Sabrina Toppa article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-07T04:26:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:19:48.055Z article:section: Sports og:title: The NBA Is Going to Cuba For A Basketball Clinic og:description: The trip is being organized as part of the Basketball Without Borders program og:url: https://time.com/3773404/nba-cuba-basketball-clinic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The NBA Is Going to Cuba For A Basketball Clinic twitter:description: The trip is being organized as part of the Basketball Without Borders program twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The NBA Is Going to Cuba for a Basketball Clinic ## Video: Five Things You Should Know Before Traveling To Cuba [Watch (HLS stream): Five Things You Should Know Before Traveling To Cuba](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/f1ZZxJ3O.m3u8) (1:25)  _Published 2015-01-16. The U.S. is only allowing travel to Cuba for government-approved reasons. Also, sorry — there’s a limit to how much alcohol and tobacco you can bring back_ by [Sabrina Toppa](https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Apr 7, 2015 4:26 AM UTC by [Sabrina Toppa](https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Apr 7, 2015 4:26 AM UTC The NBA is [taking a team](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/sports/basketball/nba-sending-representatives-to-a-four-day-clinic-in-cuba.html) to the Cuban capital, Havana, for a four-day basketball clinic, the New York _Times_ reports. Under the auspices of the Basketball Without Borders program, the NBA will coordinate with the International Basketball Federation to bring Spanish-speaking players to meet their Cuban counterparts. Among those in attendance will be former point guard Steve Nash, ex-center Dikembe Mutombo and retired WNBA All-Star Ticha Penicheiro, along with NBA executives. The news comes in the wake of the recent thawing of U.S.-Cuba relations. “We’ve seen the bridges that basketball can build between cultures,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum told the _Times_. Two Cuban-born players have competed briefly in the NBA: Lazaro Borrell (with Seattle from 1999 to 2000) and Andres Guibert (Minnesota, 1993 to 1995). The sport itself has been played in Cuba for decades, with the women’s team particularly successful, coming first in the 2013 Americas competition. The clinic will run from April 23 to 26. 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