"It was 9 p.m. Thursday in Barcelona, and Marcus Camby's voice sounded juiced after his first day with the NBA's Basketball Without Borders program in Spanish city.

"It's been going great," the veteran center of the Trail Blazers said. "We visited the U.S. Embassy, met with a lot of people from different organizations, put on a camp for some players. It's been a lot of fun."

For the past decades through Basketball Without Borders, the NBA has been sending its coaches and players to the far reaches of the globe to promote the game as well as education, health, fitness and lifestyle awareness.

This is the second "tour of duty" for Camby, who was part of a contingent that visited South Africa a couple of years ago.

"Oh my goodness, that was the best trip my wife (Eva) and I have ever been on," Camby said. "It opened our eyes up to a lot of things, to how the other half of the world lives and how fortunate we have it as Americans.

"HIV is so prevalent there. It was a great chance to give something to kids from poor backgrounds, some with serious health issues. We raised a lot of eyebrows and hopefully put some smiles on their faces."

So when Camby was asked to be part of the group putting on the Barcelona event, "I jumped at the opportunity," he said. "The NBA does a terrific job with these outreach programs, interacting with young people. It's a pleasure for me to be a part of it.

"Plus, it's a chance for Eva and me to go to a place we haven't been before. We'd heard so many good things about this place."

Among the NBA assemblage in Barcelona are players Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Vladimir Radmanovic and Jason Terry and coaches Ron Adams and Dick Harter. On Thursday, they started a four-day camp at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper with 50 of the top European players aged 19 and under."