For over thirty years, the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association) has been in the business of delivering NBA greats like Kyrie Irving, Devin Booker, Trey Young, Zion Williamson and more through their coveted Top 100 camp, and the event is back in June to deliver the next batch of young players we’ll be watching dominate in the years to come.
Currently under the leadership of former players Andre Iguodala (Executive Director) and Shaun Livingston (Head of Elite Youth Basketball), the camp is being refreshed after three decades in a week-long event that will take place in Rock Hill, S.C. in June. New for 2025, the NBPA has introduced an elevated nomination and selection process, focused on redefining a merit-based system that will result in bringing together the best players – domestic and international – at Top 100. The organization is also widening its talent pool, accepting nominations from elite youth basketball circuits, and enlisting the expert evaluation of 25 top scouts to vote and rank nominees.
Another new addition to the program? The accompaniment of a veteran Camp Director, who will play the dual role of elevating on court training for the campers and sharing coaching insights with participating NBA players. Top 100’s first Camp Director will be Phil Handy, former NBA player-turned-coach who went to six consecutive NBA Finals as an assistant coach, winning three championships. Handy currently serves as head coach for Mist BC of the Unrivaled basketball league.
I chatted with Dan Gladstone, SVP of Basketball Activation with the NBPA. to learn more about what’s in store for the summer.
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SN: Thanks for chatting with us Dan! Could you just start by talking to us a bit about this year’s Top 100 camp?
Gladstone: This is a program we’re very passionate about. Our mission is to serve, protect and advance the rights of NBA players, and it’s important for us to let future NBA players know we are a resource for them. We help them and their parents as they go from the high school ranks to the NBA. For thirty years, the camp has been doing this, and here we are in our 31st year, and the camp is relaunching.
We’re really focused on the educational development…still the skill development on court, but the educational workshops off court. In addition to the workshop, we also have workshops for parents to try and educate them about different things like NIL. We also have an educational track for NBA players who are interested in coaching—the players that have signed up for this because they have an interest in coaching, teaching and mentoring, so we’ve put together workshops for them as well.
SN: Awesome! What does the camp look like this year?
Gladstone: It’s a week-long camp. We’ll have the top kids in the country, but we’re also trying to get some international kids—we’re trying to get about five-to-six amazing international players. This year, we’re focused heavily on skill development, so the first day-and-a-half the kids won’t even have games, they’ll learn from NBA players as far as how to train and become more proficient as a player. The educational workshops will take place from the minute the kids arrive on site.
The platform itself has had some really strong alumni over the years like Steph Curry—he’s one of our alumni, Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Brown, Trae Young, Zion Williamson—that’s the level of talent that has come through this camp, and they all expressed to us how being able to come here has helped them.
SN: To that point, how are you scouting the players that are coming to the camp?
Gladstone: We’ve built a committee of scouts that work tirelessly year-round. We have about 25 scouts that are scouting and nominating players that for the most part are affiliated with the different sneaker brands that showcase the top kids. We’re kind of neutral…the NBA players that come through are affiliated with brands like Nike, New Balance etc., and that’s how we like to see our camps made up. Once we receive all the nominations, we put them all into a system that gives us the best indication of who deserves to be at the camp, and who is the most likely to become NBA players later.
SN: And can you talk a little bit more about the program for NBA players who want to become coaches?
Gladstone: They’re in workshops with us where they sit down with coaches who have coached college and in the NBA to learn hands on what goes into that lifestyle. We have an amazing director—Phil Handy who has coached in multiple NBA Finals and has won three championships. John Lucas III is another great coach we have that is going to be helping to lead that workshop as well. It’s going to cover how to make that transition from player to coach, and then when the kids arrive, they’ll be paired up with former NBA players and coaches. So, these players will have a chance to work with these kids and coach games with these mentor figures.
SN: It’s in South Carolina this year right?
Gladstone: For the past several years we’ve been in Florida, but this year we’re moving to South Carolina. We’ve really fallen in love with this venue—it has nine professional courts. We also have a hotel that is just several steps away from the gym—we’re going to take over the hotel for our players and our campers. We love South Carolina and the proximity to Charlotte, and there’s a lot of great vendors we’ll be working with in the South Carolina community. A lot of the branding and design will be done locally as well.
SN: Anything else you want to add?
Gladstone: We’re excited to have this opportunity and lead with Andre Iguodala, who is very passionate about this as well. We’re actually going to have an NBA Finals viewing party, and that’s going to be exciting to have guys that may have just been in the NBA Playoffs breaking things down and giving mentorship. It’s going to be great!
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