An Open Letter To Indian Basketball (3rd November 2010)

I came across an article the official NBA website in a peculiar fashion. I was merely trying to play a quick catch-up since the season has started and at the bottom there was a terrific picture of Jordan shooting over Starks with the caption - "Manwani: My Favourite Moment".

The name struck me as unusual for an NBA columnist and seeing as I grew up watching the Bulls in the 90s, I clicked to find that I was on the NBA India page and unfortunately, that didn't say very much to me at the start.

Understandably, since basketball coverage in India has always been bleak - even now. The last post-season (09-10) wasn't given any importance and only the Conference Finals onwards were shown with any sort of regularity. To think that eager NBA fans in India will wake up at unearthly hours to make time for a 2 and a half hour spot on ESPN and then remorsefully have to turn the TV off since it's playing baseball or figure skating or some other such rot is preposterous. I remember feeling particularly frustrated more than a few times this season and I don't see how it makes any sense. I don't mean any disrespect to any other sport but there really must be a reservation for NBA playoff games, enough for them to be aired live for those who care. And I am confident you will agree - there are other people in this country who care about basketball more than the frivolous banter they play at 5 in the morning.
If anything, live sport should be given preference to re-runs.

Aside from this, the portrayal (in movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and that other Hrithik movie and more recently, the blackberry suits ad), of basketball as a sport is ridiculous. The voice over and ad production is another reason to cringe but that wouldn't be relevant to the topic.

I could go on, but I think you see my point about why I might have felt slightly forlorn at the sight of an NBA India blog page and wondered who might be writing and further perpetuating this ugly image of such a wonderful sport in India now.

And then I read this article.

Needless to say, (and not to sound hoity-toity) I was very impressed! Manwani seemed to be very knowledgeable about the game and more importantly, the energy and the spirit of it. I enjoyed reading it and turned my attention to the other pieces he contributed and he has gained a new fan! If this is anything to go by, the level of awareness of basketball is sure to rise and I find myself eager to participate in any way possible.

I used to play very often but I'm afraid I don't hold the same fortitude as I did before. I know for a fact that there is tremendous talent in this country and there ought to be a way to harness it into an actual force to reckon with, the force I know we have the potential to be. This email seems rather lengthy now and to be honest, I had only come here to say hello and express my support. Being a writer myself and a basketball aficionado, I guess I got carried away :)

If you've taken the time to read this far, I want to say thank you again and I'll be sure to follow your work (already following your blogspot) and I wish you luck with your column(s).

Cheers!

-Varun Mukerji (Pune, India)