Last year it began a project with America's NBA to develop basketball in Russia.
Often, big men from developing basketball countries feature rough-hewn skills and a measure of awkwardness, but Yao is an exception.
He certainly faces one of the most daunting challenges: planting the N.B.A. flag here and using the league's enormous global brand to develop basketball on a continent where the game of choice is soccer.
A great basketball player, almost by definition, is someone who has grown up in a constricted world, not for lack of vision or ambition but for lack of money; his environment has been limited to home; gym, and playground, and it has forced upon him, as a developing basketball player, the discipline of having nothing else to do.
Prokhorov said the visit would serve as a cornerstone for future interaction between players and coaches from the Nets and young Russians, with the aim of developing basketball in Russia, where the sport is a distant third in popularity behind soccer and hockey.
John continues to give up his time to coach and develop basketball across Falkirk and works with all age groups from Under 10 to Senior Men and Women.
I've worked hard to develop basketball programs at the high school and elementary levels.
Broken Bow, which Rutherford proudly boasts has now grown to a population of 6,000, is not known as fertile ground for developing basketball players.
Later that year, he joined the St . Albans Lindensof the Press League, a basketball league sponsored by the Long Island Press, where he developed his basketball skills and gained much-needed experience.
Thomas developed exceptional basketball skills at an early age and became a highly sought-after college prospect.
