NBA in India: Mere Angne Me Tumhara Kya Kaam Hai?

The Jr. NBA skills challenge concluded a few weeks ago. It was for kids between the ages 10-12 only, and involving three timed drills. Pretty basic stuff. It may not seem like much but kids at that age aren’t doing a whole lot of noteworthy stuff. For them participating in an inter school competition is a big deal. Especially when that competition is organized by the same entity they see on TV.

One of the things it had going for it was that it was probably the most inclusive inter school basketball competition for kids in the age group of 10-12, as explained in the above link. The bulk of the organizing and conducting of this competition was done by the respective schools. The competition structure was communicated by the NBA and they presided over the state championships and the finals were attended by an NBA player, Brandon Jennings. What I’m getting at here is that the direct involvement of the NBA here is somewhat limited, as they are delegating the selection of students to the respective schools through coaches whom they instruct and give the following material.

For this Skills Challenge, they distributed a coach’s guide and a walkthrough for the challenges. The guide included descriptions of basic basketball drills and the walkthrough was likewise picturesque. Besides its detailed and colourful illustrations, what made it stand out was the NBA logo on the cover. That logo is familiar to most of the kids here. You can check them out here:

Skills challenge

Coach’s guide

Thorough as these guides were, even a more in depth guide carrying the logo of BFI won’t have people sit up and take notice quicker. This is in spite of BFI having more of a vested interest in developing basketball in India.

I can’t stress how important the brand is. Everywhere around us we are bombarded with ads and PR activities which help in building brands. The obscene amounts of money spent in these activities speak volumes about the importance and advantages of building a brand. The NBA already has that brand image.

Playing devil’s advocate for a while, I’d point out that they are conducting this in 5 cities and yet they are calling the finals National Skills championships. Until recently, even the Mahindra NBA challenge was described as the largest community based basketball league in India. Their website said that the best junior basketball players from all over India are participating in the Jr. NBA/WNBA Skills Challenge Finals.

So yeah, they aren’t overtly modest. Neither is the detergent which proclaims to wash away any and every stain. Neither is the new mobile model which promises to make you hip and in with the crowd. Nor is the Horlicks drink which promises to make your kids tall. It’s all just marketing. Parading your product in the best possible light, even if the light is sometimes moonshine.

The NBA’s involvement in India has been limited to only a few cities, a fact which residents of other cities are quick to remind them of on social networks. But it’s not like it’s their obligation to proliferate all over India. The most common grievances against them are that they are concentrating their activities in only a select few metros and that the majority of the competitions and activities are for junior kids.

Tackling the second issue first. In Mizoram and elsewhere, the basketball bodies have a program called ‘Catch them young’. They concentrate on involving young kids as much as possible in basketball activities. Even they could be accused of showing excessive favour to the kids at the expense of senior players. In their case one can comfortably dismiss such accusations as absurd. The grown ups, if they indeed deserve extra consideration, ought to take the initiative to further their sporting interest on their own. They shouldn’t need to have their hands held and be guided down the road to basketball excellence.

In that example, the policy of a state body was rationalized and compared to the NBA’s policy of involving young kids. This makes the NBA’s policy legit by association, right? Not quite. The difference being that the state body clearly develops its policies keeping the welfare of the sport and the people in mind. The motives of the NBA aren’t so transparent.

The NBA has increased its activities in India in the last few years

The NBA is a business at its core. Let’s get that out of the way. From the public’s point of view, the main objects of a business are to make money and expand. That being said, their growth need not come at the expense of anyone (feel free to contradict me, I’m just using logic without facts here), especially for a business whose product is entertainment. It’s not the kind of entertainment which you invent, mass produce, package and sell in a physical form.

The NBA’s business is with the people. The product they are marketing is the game of basketball as played by their 30 teams. Their business depends on the people having a love for the game. Love for the NBA game, to be precise. They probably won’t expand their resources to broadcast matches played by the national team of the country they are operating in. They probably won’t make an equal effort to market the stars of Indian basketball as they do to promote their own players. They, in all probability, base their actions on sound business sense. Even their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (NBA Cares) could be reasoned as selfish efforts to improve their image.

Why should we expect otherwise? Kya unhone humare desh me basketball failane ka theka liya hai?

My belief is that one ought to construct the best possible interpretations of the actions and motives of others. Unless, when one is in a business and stands to lose something. In that case, assume and prepare for the worst.

India’s burgeoning middle and upper middle class market is ideal for the NBA to tap into. At the absolute worst, we can accuse them of having the ulterior motive of marketing the NBA product and guiding their decisions by business sense. Even the worst thing I can accuse them of sounds like a business compliment. Admittedly I don’t know much, like where the bodies are buried and all that.

Joh hai naam waala, wohi to badnaam hai.

Here are some of the activities organized by the NBA in India

- Mahindra NBA Challenge- Jr. NBA/WNBA Skills Challenge- Coaching clinics- Interactive sessions with NBA/WNBA players and former players and coaches.

The NBA in India was also instrumental in :

- Bringing over 16 NBA/WNBA current and former players in India in the last three years alone.- Helping in the development of players such as Satnam Singh and Geethu Anna Jose. They helped secure WNBA tryouts for the latter, although she wasn’t selected this time, it was an invaluable experience which put her on the map as a player to reckon with.- Refurbishing basketball courts.

Working with IMG Reliance and BFI, they aim to make basketball the number one sport in India. Even if the NBA was an indifferent and insensitive corporation with all its motives driven by moolah, it would still be doing well by the country, as their business relies on spreading the love of the game. At the same time, its a business and to keep it afloat they need to operate like a business. Not much wrong in that. What say? Have your say below.

Gode mein bitha lo! Kamre me bitha lo! Jaane kya anjaam hai.