NBA makes inroads in India

A new league for aspiring basketball players was announced on Tuesday as the Mahindra Group in collaboration with the National Basketball Asocaiation (NBA) launched a community-based, non-professional league called the Mahindra NBA Challenge.

The competition will focus on nurturing young talent and having a structured competition format from the grassroot level.

The two categories are: 14-17 years and 18 and above. MD and vice chairman of Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra said, “We have to make sure that the sport is built from ground up and the top down approach is wrong.” The league will be held at three centres across the country, namely Mumbai, Bangalore and Ludhiana.

President of International NBA Heidi Uebberoth said: “We want to make basketball the No.2 sport in the country. We also want to make the sport locally relevant which is why we are working with the BFI.”

The competition will start on April 17 in Mumbai and be held at the Dominic Savio Andheri and Mustan YMCA courts.

Anand Mahindra was also presented with a jersey of his favourite team the Boston Celtics. Interested participants can register at www.nba.com/India/Mahindra.