Obama team and NBA partner on diplomacy, public safety

We don't know if this has anything to do with President Obama's love of hoops, but his administration has inked two new agreements with the National Basketball Association.

One involves State Department diplomacy, the other deals with Homeland Security.

The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the NBA announced a "sports envoy" program today, tipping off with with a Feb. 22-March 2 mission to India.

Hall of Fame player George Gervin -- forever known to his many fans as "The Iceman" -- and women's NBA star Katie Smith will visit Mumbai and New Delhi to "conduct basketball clinics with Indian youth, meet with university students and participate in local community events in under-served areas."

The State Department said, "Sports diplomacy envoys build on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's vision of 'smart power diplomacy,' which embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools -- in this case the game of basketball -- to bring people together and foster greater understanding among people and cultures."

In addition to the events in India, current and former NBA and WNBA players will lead programs in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, India, Jordan, Republic of the Congo, Uzbekistan and Venezuela during the 2011 sports envoy season. The full lineup of players will be released at a later date.

The announcement comes a day after the Department of Homeland Security said the NBA has become its newest partner in the public awareness campaign, "If You See Something, Say Something."

"Every citizen plays a critical role in identifying and reporting suspicious activities and threats," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "Our partnership with the NBA to bring the 'If You See Something, Say Something' campaign to professional basketball events throughout the nation is a vital part of our efforts to ensure the safety of players, employees and fans."

Other DHS partners include the National Football League, other private businesses and state and local governments.

The NBA plans to promote the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign at this weekend's events surrounding the NBA All-Star game.