Abdul-Jabbar to visit Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): American basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be the star at a two-day event featuring the first-ever streetball championship in Indonesia starting on Aug. 26 at the Pondok Indah Mall parking lot in South Jakarta.

The six-time NBA Most Valuable Player will visit Jakarta as the ambassador of sportswear and sports equipment manufacturer Adidas, which invented the three-a-side game in 1992 in Germany and sponsors the championship. The retired Los Angeles Laker, now 47-year-old, will also conduct a public coaching clinic.

Streetball is half-court basketball which pits both male and female players against each other. The game ends when a team scores 16 points or after 20 minutes.

Two hundred teams from four age groups will compete for a total of Rp 20 million (US$8,841) in cash and a berth in the world streetball championship to be held next month in Barcelona. (arf)