Good Sports: NBA DEBUTS IN INDIA
The Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers played two preseason games in Mumbai in early October, the first-ever NBA exhibition games to be held in India. Tickets for the first game were reserved for 3,000 kids in the Reliance Foundation Junior NBA program while the second game was sold-out, with ticket prices ranging from Rs. 4,500 to Rs. 85,000.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, who grew up in Mumbai, led the venture to bring the NBA to India. He believes that the NBA has great potential for growth in India.
“I won’t be greedy and say we’re going to replace cricket as the national pastime,” he told the New York Times. “But I’ll be greedy and say we’ll become a strong No. 2.”
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
[Comments? Contributions? Please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]
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