Starting tomorrow and continuing through the next 11 weeks, the NBA is kicking off its first-ever “NBA Nation” tour, which is pretty much an eight-city traveling circus of basketball stuff for fans to get into. The first stop is Denver, followed by Atlanta, L.A., San Francisco, D.C., New York, Philly and Dallas. Along the way, various NBA players will be in attendance for fans to meet. The main attraction of the tour is an 18-wheel truck that expands into 20,000-square-foot “basketball playground” where fans in each city can, amongst other things, compete in the Performance Challenge (similar to the All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge). The challenge winners from each city get to go to Dallas in July and compete for a brand-new 2009 Kia Borrego SUV.

NBA Nation tour dates:

5/3 – 5/4: “Cinco de Mayo Celebrate Culture Festival” (Denver)
5/9 – 5/11: “Sweet Auburn Springfest” (Atlanta)
5/17 – 5/18: Santa Monica Pier (L.A.)
5/24 – 5/25: “Carnaval San Francisco” (S.F.)
6/21 – 6/22: “Safeway Barbeque Battle XVI” (Washington D.C.)
6/28 – 6/29: South Street Seaport (New York City)
7/3 – 7/4: “Sunoco Welcome America” (Philly)
7/11 – 7/13: “Taste of Dallas” (Dallas)