The Junior NBA League

By S. Bueno

St. Paul’s school once again competes in the Jr. NBA league
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Tension, hope, and a lot of celebration. That was the feeling felt by many during the Draft of the Jr. NBA League 2019. The ceremony was held on the night of Wednesday, April 17th, at the Theater of Arts (Shopping Eldorado), São Paulo. The event defined which NBA team franchises the 48 participating Brazilian teams (30 male and 18 female teams). This year, the league has an average of 700 young people aged from 12 to 14 years old; from private and public schools to social projects.​

Throughout the draft, we had the privilege of improving our knowledge about the background stories of 2 basketball legends:

Janeth Arcain, former player of the Seleção Brasileira (Brazil’s official basketball team) and four-time champion of the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) who played for the Houston Comets from 1997 until 2000.

Rafael Araújo, also known as ‘Bábby’, is a former player of the Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors, who played as a pivot in both NBA teams. There was also the additional participation of Everaldo Marques, host and narrator of ESPN – who conducted the ceremony.

The St. Paul’s Junior Varsity, both boys and girls teams are competing, and we managed to get the San Antonio Spurs, which is an amazing team! The NBA teams were assigned according to the results of the Combine, which was an event that occurred on the 30th of March, composed of physical and technical tests for the athletes to complete. This took place at Miguel de Cervantes College.

The first game for the boys and girls teams took place on the 27th of April, however, against different teams. The boys competed against Notre Dame, which is representing the Milwaukee Bucks and the girls against Colégio Américo Franco, which is representing Orlando Magic. The boys amazingly managed to beat Notre Dame. However, the girls unfortunately lost their first game against Colégio Américo Franco.

The next games will be on May 11th and other games will follow. The tournament lasts for about 3 months in total. We rely and encourage our Lions to support and cheer for us. You are all welcome to attend any of our matches.

Now, the next step is to do our best, reach our highest limits and of course, have fun.