'I think we can bring a pre-season game to India,' says NBA commissioner

Adam Silver hopes that India can do so in the next few years.

National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver speaks to the media during All-Star basketball game festivities.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated that India could host an NBA pre-season match in the next few years. “One of the things we're looking at, which we hope to do relatively soon, is to bring a pre-season game to India. It is dependent on the arena infrastructure, but we've heard some good news about plans to build new arenas in Delhi and Mumbai. I think we can bring a pre-season game to India in the next few years,” Silver said, at a media interaction here.

Read: Embiid feels ‘special’ to be a part of NBA All-Star weekend Silver added that the recent launch of the NBA Academy at Greater Noida will go a long way in helping young Indian basketball players reach their full potential. “I don't want to make predictions on when an Indian player will make it big in the NBA. There is no magic around it. It's the result of hard work, discipline, appropriate training techniques, and passion.

There is an enormous amount of basketball being played in India. But unless you have access to proper training, facilities, and competition at a young age, you cannot produce star Indian players. That is why we made the decision to invest in the NBA India Academy,” Silver said.

(The writer is in Los Angeles on invitation from NBA and Sony Six)