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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder is going to Cuba.
The NBA announced Tuesday Snyder will join a contingent of basketball figures from the United States that will host a series of basketball clinics and camps on the island nation from April 23-26.
The figures will be the first members of a U.S. professional league to travel to Cuba since President Barack Obama ordered diplomatic relations to be re-opened between the two countries.
Snyder will be joined by Orlando Magic coach James Borrego, and also by recently retired NBA point guard Steve Nash. Former WNBA great Lisa Leslie will also be part of the contingent.
Snyder is the first Jazz coach to join an international basketball venture since Tyrone Corbin participated in Basketball without Borders in 2013.
The NBA will join forces with FIBA, the game’s international governing body, to refurbish basketball courts in Havana, as well as hold the clinics. The hope is for the visit to spark a visit from Cuban players to the United States for basketball-related activities.
Cuba won the bronze medal in men’s basketball in the 1972 Olympics, and the women’s team is the defending FIBA Americas champions.
Snyder’s international basketball experience includes serving as the lead assistant coach to famed Italian coach Ettore Messina for the Euroleague’s CSKA Moscow in 2013.
