NMI represented in 2023 FIBA Congress

At the cusp of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, James Lee represented the NMI in the 2023 edition of the FIBA Congress in Manila, Philippines from Aug. 23 to 26, 2023.

Out of 212 national federations, 198 attended the congress. 

Lee, Northern Marianas Basketball Federation president, said, “It was definitely an honor to represent NMI [and] more so to introduce our home to the rest of the world.”

While there, Lee had the opportunity to meet many other national federation representatives around the world, along with the previous FIBA president Hamane Niang and newly elected FIBA president Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani. 

Lee—a huge basketball fan, met—and at about 6 feet himself, was dwarfed by several former NBA superstars Dirk Nowitzki, Gheorghe Muresan, and Yao Ming—all of whom are over 7 feet.

The one-day congress and one-day workshop was on Safeguarding and Integrity, Innovation on Equipment, and Women in Basketball.

Lee said that the information presented was “all very insightful that will help with our continuous growth in basketball, both at the national level as well as for our community.”

On Day 3, Lee attended the opening of the 2023 FIBA World Cup at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, Philippines. He also had the opportunity to watch both opening games between Angola and Italy and the Dominican Republic versus the Philippines.

He said that both games were a battle to the end and that he enjoyed watching both but enjoyed more on the second game rooting for the Philippines although they lost.

Overall, Lee said, “it was a great experience for myself and I did my very best to promote our island and had invited everyone that I had met to bring their team down for a goodwill basketball game or even just to visit.”