MONTERREY – The NBA announced today that as part of NBA Mexico Game 2009, players from both the Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers, as well as the Suns Dancers and mascot will join NBA dignitaries in taking part in a caravan of community relations events on Saturday, Oct. 17 in Monterrey.

On Saturday, October 17, members of the Suns Dance Team as well as the Gorilla, the Suns’ official mascot, will head to Hospital Universitario for a meet and greet with patients and parents. From there it is onto Cuidad de los Ninos de Monterrey ABP for a tree-planting event with students from the school.

Finally, players from both the 76ers and Suns will host a Special Olympics clinic for 60 boys and girls ages 8-18 as well as 12-16 Special Olympics coaches at the Irish Institute in Monterrey. The clinic will offer participating athletes the opportunity to practice their passing, shooting and rebounding skills alongside NBA players and coaches.

NBA Mexico Game 2009 will take place at Arena Monterrey on Sunday, October 18. Following Mexico Game 2009, NBA teams will have played 18 games in Mexico, with 14 different teams having competed in front of over 300,000 Mexican fans. The NBA first visited Monterrey in 2006, when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets in front of a sellout crowd at Arena Monterrey. Mexico is the only international country other than Japan and Canada to ever host an NBA regular-season game, having done so in 1997 when the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets played in Mexico City.

NBA  Cares  is the league’s social responsibility initiative that builds on the  NBA’s  long  tradition  of  addressing  important social issues in the United  States  and  around  the world.  Through this umbrella program, the NBA,  its teams and players have donated more than $110 million to charity, provided  more  than  one million hours of  hands-on service to communities around  the world, and created more than 425 places where kids and families can  live,  learn or play.  NBA Cares works with internationally recognized

youth-serving   programs   that   support   education,   youth  and  family development,   and   health-related  causes,  including:  KaBOOM!,  Special Olympics,  Boys  and  Girls  Clubs  of  America,  UNICEF,  the  Make-A-Wish Foundation,  and  the  Global Business  Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.