Yannick Colaco steps down as NBA India's Managing Director

Colaco oversaw the launch of the NBA Academy India in Delhi-NCR for top male and female prospects, and the NBA Basketball Schools for male and female basketball players between ages 6-18.

File Photo: Yannick Colaco (Left) with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Yannick Colaco will step down as vice-president and managing director of NBA India, a position he held since February 2013, NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum announced on Monday.

Diane Gotua, the NBA vice-president for global business operations, will relocate from New York to Mumbai to lead the business in India on an interim basis and oversee the search for a new India managing director.

“The NBA’s popularity and business in India have seen significant growth under Yannick’s leadership over the past six years,” said Tatum. “We thank Yannick for his contributions during his tenure as managing director and are grateful to have Diane assist with the transition.”

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Colaco was influential in the formation of the NBA’s partnership with the Reliance Foundation in 2013, which has reached more than 10 million youth from 10,000 schools and trained more than 10,000 physical education instructors nationwide through the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA programme.

Additionally, he oversaw the launch of the NBA Academy India in the Delhi National Capital Region for top male and female prospects, and the NBA Basketball Schools, a network of tuition-based basketball development programmes open to male and female players ages 6-18.

“I am extremely thankful to have played a part in the growth of the NBA in India,” Colaco said. “From broadening the distribution of our games to our plan to bring the live game experience to fans, the NBA’s business in India has never been better.”