Playing like an NBA star won't merely be a fantasy for young hoops fans in China, now that NBA China has extended its partnership with the Chinese Ministry of Education to bring a tailor-made basketball curriculum to 500 schools beginning this autumn.

The renewal of the cooperation agreement, which was signed by NBA China and the ministry in October 2014, was announced on Monday as part of the sports and education initiatives of the China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange in Beijing.

The pilot program, which will feature fitness and basketball development in elementary and secondary education, will be rolled out in August with five coaching clinics to train physical education teachers from 500 schools in 10 provinces. The curriculum was jointly compiled by NBA China and the ministry.