TV deal will allow for wide coverage of the NBA in Wyclef’s native country


NEW YORK, April 25 -- The National Basketball Association and Telemax, a free-to-air television outlet in Haiti, today announced a multiyear deal that will bring the 2006 NBA Playoffs to fans in Haiti. Grammy Award winning and Haitian born recording artist Wyclef Jean, founding member of the Fugees, and well known for his charitable acts in Haiti, is co-owner of Telemax and helped coordinate the deal to bring the NBA to his home country.

The multiyear deal with Telemax includes regular-season games, Playoff games and The Finals. Fans in Haiti will also receive NBA Action, an original series program, and NBA TV Daily, a daily service which offers a recap of all the latest news, highlights and statistics from around the league.


Wyclef Jean
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images


"This was inspired by my trips to Haiti where I saw the kids playing basketball in the streets," said Wyclef Jean. “The next step is to put courts up for the kids.”

The 2006 NBA Playoffs will be seen in 215 countries with broadcasts in 43 different languages via 164 different television partners. NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour basketball network, will carry playoff action to a record 41 countries.

On April 5, Wyclef teamed up with Samuel Dalembert of the Philadelphia 76ers, the only Haitian player in the NBA, to host Haitian night at the Wachovia Center as Philadelphia played host to the Chicago Bulls.

Dalembert has contributed close to $75,000 to his home country while Wyclef heads up Yéle Haiti (www.yele.org), a non-political organization intended to empower the people of Haiti by combining the power of music to assist in development in the areas of education, health, environment and community development.

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