New York, NY - May 15th, 2025 - Learn Fresh is proud to share the student and educator selections for the 2025 NBA Math Hoops Global Championship. As the flagship event of the NBA Math Hoops program, the Global Championship brings together students from across the U.S. and around the world for three days of competition, learning, and community. This year’s Championship will take place June 24–27 in New York City, aligning with the excitement of the 2025 NBA Draft. Throughout the event, students have the chance to attend the NBA Draft, explore iconic landmarks around New York City, engage in hands-on STEM experiences with program partners, and compete for the 2025 Championship title.
This year marks the third Global Championship since NBA Math Hoops expanded internationally in 2023 and the twelfth consecutive annual championship tournament. Past national championships have been co-hosted with NBA teams in cities like San Francisco (Warriors), Detroit (Pistons), and Philadelphia (76ers). Since 2023, the Championship has found a home in New York City, with the final rounds of this year’s tournament once again taking place at the NBA’s headquarters.
The 2025 Global Championship will feature student teams from across the United States and around the world, including students from Australia, representing 16 NBA and WNBA markets. This year’s participants range from third to eighth grade, with the majority—75%—in fourth through sixth grade. During the 2025 season, NBA Math Hoops served 3,000 educators and over 200,00 students across all regions.
Students earn their spot at the Global Championship through months of hard work and dedication. To be eligible for nomination, each student must play a minimum of 25 games and complete 10 curriculum units throughout the season. In addition, participants are selected based on their academic growth, sportsmanship, and perseverance both inside and outside the classroom. Students are nominated by their educators and selected from a competitive pool of applicants; this year marked the highest number of applications in the program’s history.
Since 2012, NBA Math Hoops has served over 1 million students in partnership with nearly 30 NBA and WNBA teams and founding partners including the NBA, Hasbro, and Getty Images.
2025 NBA Math Hoops Global Championship Participants:
2025 Outstanding Educators:
About NBA Math Hoops:
NBA Math Hoops is a dynamic learning experience that leverages the game of basketball and the NBA and WNBA brands to develop algebra readiness and critical thinking, and collaboration skills. The program features physical and digital basketball-themed games, real-life performance statistics, and identities of all NBA and WNBA players, classroom curricula, and community event series. NBA Math Hoops is offered free to school-day and out-of-school time educators. NBA Math Hoops is designed to serve students in 4th - 8th grade and is adaptable to a variety of learning spaces.
About Learn Fresh:
Learn Fresh is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing innovative STEM learning experiences that empower educators and inspire students. Through community, play, and rigorous exploration, we leverage students’ passion for sports and entertainment to inspire their STEM learning and foster essential life skills such as teamwork, resilience, and leadership. Our programs are explicitly focused on students living in low-income communities. We believe all students deserve a quality and engaging education. To date, our programming has engaged nearly 1 million students across the US and beyond. Programs include NBA Math Hoops, MLB Players STEM League, MLS STEM Goals, and EcoTour. More information can be found at www.learnfresh.org.