Teen Basketball Fan Fighting a Brain Tumor To Be a Special Guest at NBA Nation Presented by T-Mobile USA & Kia Motors

WILMINGTON, Del., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Thirteen-year old Justin Friedlander, a basketball enthusiast and founder of "Justin's Quest," will be a special guest on the Kia Court at NBA Nation presented by T-Mobile USA & Kia Motors at Penn's Landing on Saturday, June 26 at 3:00 p.m. The event, which has partnered with the "Wawa Welcome America's Taste of Philadelphia" festivities, will be hosted by NBA Legend and former Philadelphia 76er, Darryl Dawkins, who is NBA Nation's official ambassador.

In March, 2009, doctors diagnosed Justin with an inoperable brain tumor. In spite of this difficult personal news, Justin decided that he needed to take action to help others. Later that year, he established "Justin's Quest," an initiative to raise awareness for brain tumors and raise money to help find a cure.

Justin's vision is to shoot a basket for every person diagnosed with a primary brain tumor each year in the U.S. – approximately 63,000 baskets – and all proceeds from Justin's Quest will benefit the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS).

"We are extremely excited that the NBA has chosen to support Justin's Quest," stated Director of Awareness for NBTS Chris Grundner. "They've been so gracious to include him in this event as well as the NBA FIT clinic yesterday at Madison Square Garden, where Justin mingled and shot hoops with the top 2010 NBA draft picks."

The NBA's largest mobile basketball playground, NBA Nation, travels more than 100,000 miles, making stops in eight NBA cities: Phoenix, Denver, Los Angeles, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Dallas. The customized, 18-wheel NBA Nation truck expands into a 20,000 square-foot basketball playground providing free interactive basketball activities and the opportunity to meet NBA players and legends.

The event includes a variety of programs such as a slam dunk contest, agility courses, basketball clinics, and videogames. A special program addition at the Philadelphia event will be the Justin's Quest "Free Throw Shooting Challenge," during which, participants will shoot hoops with Justin to help him in his effort to reach 63,000 baskets.

"I'm a really big fan of the NBA, so I know all about NBA Nation. It is huge and to be a part of it is going to be really cool," stated Friedlander. "I also know about Mr. Dawkins and how he got famous for smashing all those backboards with his dunks. It is definitely going to be fun to meet him too. I want to thank everyone at the NBA for giving me this opportunity."

For more information visit www.justinsquest.com, www.nba.com/nbanation and www.braintumor.org.

SOURCE National Brain Tumor Society