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Background: Although athletes with mental retardation (MR) have achieved an important role, literature concerning the evaluation tests in basketball is still poor. Objective: To assess basketball ability before and after a 4-month training performed before championship for athletes with MR and to correlate ability variations with MR levels. Methods: 15 trained basketball players with MR (11 men and 4 women; age range 21–43 years; MR: 3 mild, 8 moderate, 8 severe and 1 profound). Athletes were tested before (pre) and after (post) 4 month training preceding the championship. The tests assessed 4 levels of ability, each one characterised by 4 fundamental areas of this game: ball handling, reception, passing an