NEW YORK – The NBA today tips off NBA Green Week presented by Sprint to encourage fans of all ages to “go green” in their local communities and generate awareness for protecting the environment through a variety of initiatives.  The NBA is the only professional sports league to dedicate an entire week to educating fans about responsible environmental stewardship.  During NBA Green Week presented by Sprint, the league, its teams and players will take part in a variety of “greening” programs and events, including recycling programs, community service projects and sustainability education programs.  Continuing through April 10, Green Week is hosted in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Green Sports Alliance.

The NBA family continues to identify and implement environmentally sound practices across all of its business areas.  In association with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, the NBA and Sprint pledged the largest purchase of renewable energy certificates in league history.  The 17,085 certificates represent renewable energy used for the league’s marquee events (NBA Global Games 2014, Christmas Day games, NBA All-Star 2014, 2014 NBA Playoffs and The Finals 2014) throughout the 2013-14 season and the 49 games that take place during NBA Green Week presented by Sprint, equaling 17,085,000 kilowatt hours of renewable electricity generated, or enough to power approximately 1,577 average U.S. homes for a year.  Today, Sprint is one of the largest corporate purchasers of renewable energy in the country having secured 5.25 percent of their total energy use from renewable energy sources.  Additionally, in partnership with the NRDC and Renewable Choice Energy, the NBA will collect “Year 2” data for Mosaic, an online tool designed to measure environmental impact, allowing each team to track, analyze and identify cost-saving opportunities within their environmental footprint.

Throughout Green Week, the NBA and Sprint are encouraging fans of all ages to share the small steps they take each day to make a difference.  Fans that use #NBAGreen and tag @Sprint will be entered to win a trip to The Finals 2014 and other prizes.  Additionally, the NBA and Sprint are partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant one tree each time #NBAGreen is used between April 3 and April 10.  For fans seeking ways to get involved, the NBA and NBA Cares Twitter/Facebook accounts will use the app #climate to discover and share climate change actions posted by leading nonprofits in environmental sustainability.

Coming off his performance at NBA All-Star 2014, Oscar^®-nominated and Grammy^® award-winner Pharrell Williams partnered his textile company, Bionic Yarn, with adidas and the NBA to create commemorative T-shirts out of postconsumer plastic bottles.  The limited edition apparel will be available on NBAStore.com this postseason.  adidas – the league’s official oncourt apparel provider – will outfit all players throughout the week with 100 percent organic cotton adidas shooting shirts and adidas Revolution 30 uniforms made from 60 percent recycled materials, available at NBAStore.com and the NBA Store Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The NBA, its teams and Sprint have partnered with BKFK to launch NBA Green “Reimagination!,” an educational program designed to provide students, educators and youth programs with fun and engaging activities to learn about the environment and the small acts they can perform to make an impact.  The program will feature a digital curriculum reaching more than 7,500 schools nationwide, with hands-on recycling projects and an opportunity to share those projects through photos on the NBA Green website.

Fans can take advantage of the Sprint Buyback Program which offers a credit to new or existing customers for recycling their unwanted wireless devices.  The credit, with a value of up to $300, can be used towards hundreds of eligible wireless devices through the program.  Sprint, the industry leader in phone take-back and recycling, has diverted more than 57 million phones from landfills since 2001 and last year set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for phones recycled in a single week.  During Green Week, Sprint will host local Sprint Store events in Los Angeles and Boston where fans can win tickets to an upcoming NBA game and meet with current players and legends.

Sprint (NYSE: S) offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint served more than 55 million customers at the end of 2013 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint as the most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all 47 industries, during the last five years. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America in 2011, 2012 and 2013. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

The Green Sports Alliance is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Since launching nationally in March 2011 with 6 professional teams, including the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and WNBA’s Seattle Storm, and 5 venues as founding members, the Green Sports Alliance has grown to over 230 teams and venues from 20 different sports leagues. The Alliance brings together venue operators, sports team executives and sustainability experts to exchange information about better practices and develop solutions to their environmental challenges that are cost-competitive and innovative. Currently, the NBA and 16 of its teams and arenas have joined the Alliance.

NBA teams that are members of the Green Sports Alliance include: Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors. Find out more about the Green Sports Alliance and see all the members at www.greensportsalliance.org.

NBA Green is a year-round program of NBA Cares in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Green Sports Alliance that generates awareness and funds for protecting the environment and is committed to identifying and implementing sound environmental practices.  To date, six NBA team arenas – Philips Arena (Atlanta Hawks), AmericanAirlines Arena (Miami Heat), Moda Center (Portland Trail Blazers), Toyota Center (Houston Rockets), Amway Center (Orlando Magic) and Barclays Center (Brooklyn Nets) – have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

NBA Cares is the league’s global social responsibility program that builds on the NBA’s mission of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world.  Through this program, the NBA, its teams and players have donated more than $230 million to charity, completed more than 2.8 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 860 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play, in 25 countries and territories on five continents.