Back in December, the NBA decided it was going to spend some time this summer highlighting the best young basketball players on earth, as it announced the inaugural Jr. NBA World Championship. The tournament would bring 32 boys and girls teams together at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando to establish which is the world’s best 14U squad.
The tournament will have the opportunity to captivate the basketball-watching world, as it’s happening from Aug. 7-12, when no other hoops are going on. There was just one problem: It’s hard to watch basketball that isn’t, you know, on television anywhere.
That was until news broke on Monday morning that the Jr. NBA World Championship will indeed be televised. According to a release, the NBA and Fox Sports came to terms on an agreement that will give the tournament a home.
A number of the pool play and elimination games will air on FS1, with Fox airing the final two days of competition. Those game will include the U.S. and international championship games for both boys and girls and the World Championship games between the winners of those games. Additionally, all of the games that are televised will also be available to stream on the Fox Sports App.
In a statement, NBA President for social responsibility and player programs Kathy Behrens said “We are thrilled to partner with FOX to provide national coverage of the first-ever Jr. NBA World Championship. FOX shares our commitment to showcasing the event’s exciting on-court competition as well as the impactful off-court programming which will showcase our core values that will help set a new standard for youth basketball competitions.”
