NBA champ Ray Allen hopes Soweto visit has lasting impact on aspiring basketball players
The clinic was for boys and girls aged 14 and under and was attended by some as young as five years old.
Two-time NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist, Ray Allen, on Saturday, 26 July 2025, at the Junior NBA (stylised as Jr. NBA) clinic in Soweto. Picture: @NBA_Africa/X
JOHANNESBURG - It was a special day for some aspiring athletes in Soweto on Saturday.
More than 300 young basketball players got the opportunity of a lifetime as they attended a Junior NBA (stylised as Jr. NBA) clinic with 2-time NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist, Ray Allen.
The clinic was for boys and girls aged 14 and under and was attended by some as young as five years old.
The sound of screeching shoes on the court, the thud of dribbling basketballs and the swish of the net filled Klipspruit Sports Centre as the hundreds of youngsters attending the junior NBA clinic were put through their paces by the 10-time all-star.
The enthusiastic youths were eager to hone their skills and for the rare chance to meet a true icon of their sport. The joy and excitement rubbed off on Allen.
"For me to be here, it encourages me. Just knowing that when I walk into a room, and kids are excited, these kids have never seen me play before but just seeing me provides inspiration for them. That’s always going to stay with me for the rest of my life, just knowing that things that I did in my career still matter to some people," Allen said.
Allen hopes that the clinic and the game of basketball will have a lasting impact on the youngsters that were there.
"I just want these kids to realise that we care about them… If you can teach kids how to play basketball, there’s lessons in the game that most likely, you're not going to learn at home. It continues to give you the lesson throughout your life in so many different ways," said Allen.
Ray Allen played in the NBA for 18 seasons and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. He is widely regarded as one of the best shooters in the game’s history and held the record as the leading three-point scorer in NBA history until he was surpassed by Stephen Curry in 2021. He won two NBA Championships with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and the Miami Heat in 2013, as well as the gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with Team USA.