The NBA has gained significant traction over the past few years in the Indian subcontinent. Be it the brand or the sport of basketball, a far superior number of youngsters are taking to basketball as compared to the figures of a decade ago.
The NBA Academy of India has a huge part to play in the proliferation of the number of followers of the sport in the country. Scott Flemming, the academy’s technical director elucidates on the growth of the sport in the cricket-crazy nation ever since his stint as the coach of the Indian national basketball team back in 2012.
“Since the time I came to India to be the national coach, I have seen basketball grow," begins the American coach.
“Not just the awareness of the NBA and what they are doing here in India but also from independent groups and the federation."
“I would agree with you on the subject that it hasn’t been a fast growth but it has been a slow and steady one."
There is still plenty of room for development as he rightly notes, “There are some key factors that can be named. For instance, a pro league can give it a real boost but I think I’ve seen it grow nevertheless."
“We have had a dozen NBA pro players meet with the kids and run the camp. And I think there is a greater fan base than there used to be."
“It will probably never be anything close to cricket, but we hope to gain on the other sports", he says in all candour.
“I’ve seen the game steadily grow, but still, there is a long way to go."
As the famous saying goes ‘Person before the player’, sport is often considered as a means for the overall development of a player, but more importantly the holistic development of the person. And the man who coached the Indian national team to two winners’ medals at the South Asian Championships in the years 2014 and 2015 has a similar motto. He takes pride in the fact that the methods deployed at his centre of excellence follow a similar philosophy.
“I certainly give the federation and the coaches in the federation a lot of credit for what they have done with the players, but I think that it helped that they had their foundation here at the NBA Academy. And I think that is how we can really partner together."
“I’ve said it before, it takes a village to really help a player and improve him. So, we feel we are a part of the village, the federation is part of it, the parents are a part of it, and the local coaches, we are all working together. But I think being in a structured environment here and being able to work on basketball every day along with their schooling and other things is a great foundation for them to succeed," he says in an exclusive to News18.
The reach and appeal of the game have been aided heavily by the progress of technology in the past couple of decades and the globalisation of the markets. Such developments allow the sport to tap into a wider pool of players who hail from different parts of the globe.
“With each passing year, there are more and more international players in the NBA. If you look at the latest draft, you’d find a lot of international players on the list," explains Flemming.
This is due to a cautious effort from the organisers and decision-makers. “The NBA has been very intentional about wanting to be global. They are even having a lot of their games in other countries."
“We had a pre-season game here in Mumbai a couple of years ago. And I know that the NBA has been intentional about coming to India and building a brand, especially working at the grassroots level, which I have been part of as well."
“We have reached millions of kids through the junior NBA. We also have other auxiliary features such as coaches’ academies and various competitions and tournaments as well as our year-round NBA Schools," Flemming gives us a look into the multitude of priming opportunities available under the umbrella of the NBA India Academy.
He goes on to explain the development pathways optimised to tap into the true potential of a player.
“It is a combined effort and we have a three-pronged approach, where junior NBA is where the wards are introduced to the NBA version of basketball and some of them have the chance to go to NBA schools, and if they play at a very high level and excel, they can compete to be a part of the NBA academy. So, we are working together to grow the game of basketball and the brand of NBA in India."
Talent can be found anywhere irrespective of caste, creed, birth, religion, or social and economic status.
However, India, being the diverse nation that it is, can hardly administer or deploy equal measures of accessibility considering the socio-economic climate variance that fluctuates among its multiple regions. In simpler words, not every village or town can have the luxuries of a metropolitan city where the ‘grind’ apparently happens. And hence special measures that are tailored to fit the needs of the rural or underdeveloped areas are necessary to widen the tap into the true pool of talent available in the nation.
“We probably need to do more (with regards to the development of the sport in rural areas). It is very difficult to set up a network in all the villages as is. We are doing our best to reach out to the populace. Even if they can’t get to our try-outs, we offer the kids the opportunity to send in videos and information about themselves."
“We have gone to some villages. When we hear about an exceptional player. Back when Satnam Singh was coming up we had representatives to go to his village and see him," Fleming reflects on his own experience taking the deep-lying Indian routes in an attempt to unearth a diamond in the making.
“But it is a tough challenge, I’ll admit. We certainly aren’t against that. I’d love to go to every small village in India, but practically that is not always easy to do. So, I hope that the word gets out," he says earnestly.
“I know some of the boys we have in the academy are from small villages. They made the effort to make it to the try-outs in larger cities. “
“The other way we find them is by scouting the national tournaments as a lot of good players play on the state teams. And that is how we have come to realise that a lot of good players hail from these small villages."
“It doesn’t matter where they are from, a big city or a small village. We look at how they play, what kind of a teammate they are and what kind of heart they have really," he explains as he encapsulates the qualities required to make an honest sportsman.
Any type of development requires a strong foundation and hence substantial work at the grassroots level need to be done in order to reap the benefits of the same in the future.
“I have been to some school tournaments. If we hear about the participation of some quality players we try to get there and have a look at them. We also have a relationship with the colleges. We have them come down here and play in a league that we have here at the academy."
“We know that they are the post-academy-type players, but we try to keep our ear to the ground on such stuff."
“The main thing I can probably say is that the NBA School program we have is our main feature. We work with schools that are already established. We come in with the NBA program where we train them after school and the players do not necessarily have to be from that school either. Many of them are, but they do not necessarily have to be."
“We have also got in current and former NBA players to make visits to the schools, so probably that is the best thing we are doing as far as our relationship with schools right now," he concluded.
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