NEW YORK – The NBA today announced that Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) will serve as the first-ever partner of NBA Cares Hoops for Troops, a year-round initiative led by the league, its teams and players to support members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.  In addition, this season tips off the NBA’s unprecedented collaboration with the Department of Defense focused on our shared Commitment to Service.  The program begins today with the annual NBA Cares Hoops for Troops Week (Nov. 4-11) and will run throughout the 2014-15 NBA season.

As part of their partnership, the NBA and SCEA will host eight Hoops for Troops service projects throughout the season at military bases around the country.  Projects will include basketball hoop installations, donated entertainment packages featuring the PlayStation®4 (PS4™) computer entertainment system and select PS4 games, and NBA legend appearances.  The first of these events will take place on Thursday, Nov. 6 at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn.  Military service members and their families will have the chance to shoot hoops with NBA Hall of Famer Nate “Tiny” Archibald and play various blockbuster PS4 titles including “NBA2K15” at the PlayStation “Greatness Awaits” 18-wheel tractor trailer, among other activities.

PlayStation will also serve as presenting partner of the #HowDoYouServe Pledge Tracker, a multimedia initiative encouraging NBA fans to pledge to give back, serve their community, share their efforts and inspire others to do the same.

“We’re excited to have SCEA join such an important initiative like Hoops for Troops,” said Rachel Jacobson, NBA Senior Vice President, Global Marketing Partnerships.  “The NBA, SCEA, and our millions of fans are thankful and appreciative of the brave men and women who defend our country, so it is an honor to unite for such an important program.  Through our shared Commitment to Service with the Department of Defense, we look forward to teaming up with our nation’s military to give back and make a positive impact in communities.”

“PlayStation gamers not only love to play as their favorite star in NBA2K15, but are also huge fans of the NBA,” said Guy Longworth, Senior Vice President, Brand Marketing at SCEA.  “By partnering with the NBA’s Hoops for Troops program we’re excited to have the opportunity to honor the service men and women and their families who do so much for our country.”

As part of the recently announced Commitment to Service initiative, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey will work side by side with service members from Fort Hamilton to sort, pack and distribute food donations to families in need at City Harvest in New York City on Nov. 6.  Also participating in the event are the Brooklyn Nets, SCEA Vice President of Platforms Marketing John Koller, NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo and NBA Cares Ambassador Felipe Lopez.  Throughout the week, NBA teams and players will work with local military installations to carry out service projects in their communities.

NBA Cares Hoops for Troops efforts will also include NBA players wearing special oncourt apparel, including adidas shooting shirts, headbands, wristbands and socks to commemorate the Veterans Day holiday.  Select teams’ Hoops for Troops shooting shirts will be sold at the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue and NBAStore.com, with a portion of sales being donated to the USO.

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League.  The league has established a major international presence with offices in 13 markets worldwide, games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2014-15 season featured a record 101 international players from 37 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, which is available in 60 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which recorded 26.9 billion page views during the 2013-14 season, with more than half of all visitors originating from outside of North America.  The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with 700 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $242 million to charity, completed more than 3 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 915 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.

Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) has revolutionized home entertainment since the first PlayStation® console launched in 1995 in the United States, followed by the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system launch in 2000. SCEA continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with the PlayStation®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system, PSN℠, PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) handheld entertainment system, and the recently launched PlayStation®4 (PS4™) computer entertainment system. Recognized as an undisputed industry leader, SCEA markets the PlayStation® family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for PS3, PS Vita, and PS4 systems in North and South America. Based in San Mateo, California, SCEA serves as headquarters for all North and South American operations.

“PlayStation,” “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.