Wheelchair basketball lands in the House of Basketball

“For wheelchair basketball to have such a physical presence at the House of Basketball itself shows real testament of our evolving partnership with FIBA."

A new wheelchair basketball display has been unveiled in the House of Basketball Exhibition. Members of the IWBF Executive Council alongside FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann and International Basketball Foundation Director Florian Wanninger were all given the first preview.

The headquarters of FIBA hosts a museum which recalls the history of basketball from around the world and thanks to co-operation and co-ordination from the International Basketball Foundation, a wheelchair basketball display has been added into the exhibition.

Now sitting amongst the over 40,000 objects representing basketball’s history and culture is a presentation of the sport of wheelchair basketball. Visitors will be walked through a timeline of its history, co-written by Horst Strohkendl and Armand “Tip” Thiboutot and endorsed by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven MBE, whilst also being captivated by a film produced by the IPC explaining the game to them.

To bring the digital display to life, an elite basketball wheelchair rotates alongside it.

Alongside the imagery of well-known basketball athletes from the running game, there is now also life-size aluminium versions of wheelchair basketball stars Annika Zeyen of Germany and Canada’s Patrick Anderson, who kindly donated their international jerseys contributing to the 3D effect and real likeness.

For the interactive area, charity Motivation, who provide wheelchairs and services for people with an impairment in developing countries, contributed a sports wheelchair to allow the visiting public a chance to sit in the wheelchair and experience how to drive, dribble and shoot from it.

FIBA Secretary General, Patrick Baumann, commented: “I am delighted with the addition of the wheelchair basketball display into the House of Basketball Exhibition. It looks excellent and I’m glad that our co-operation with IWBF is now visible to all guests and the general public.”

IWBF President, Ulf Mehrens, said: “To be able to combine wheelchair basketball amongst the narration of the sport of basketball was a vision we had when visiting the House of Basketball over a year ago and I am extremely pleased to see it come to fruition.

“For wheelchair basketball to have such a physical presence at the House of Basketball itself shows real testament of our evolving partnership with FIBA. It allows us to demonstrate how both sports are aligned and promote wheelchair basketball to the wider basketball family.

“I would like to thank all of those who contributed to the display and have made it come to life.”

For those visiting the museum, an app can be downloaded to explain all articles and the background of both sports in further depths.

To extend the integration of wheelchair basketball into the House of Basketball, a variety of books and journals about the sport have been included in the inventory in the Pedro Ferrandiz Library.