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.]