How to bring an NBA game to India

Blah blah blah there's a lockout going on blah blah No telling when the NBA will return blah blah this is all very pointless blah blah blah

Just wanted to get the lockout-induced existential crisis out of my system.

During my summer of lockout discontent of being deprived of America's (and the world's) finest basketball league, two other events occurred in different parts of the world. These events were unrelated, but together, they can combine to make a dream come true for an Indian NBA fan: bringing an NBA pre-season game to India, and if the lockout doesn't allow that, bringing NBA stars to play an exhibition game here, much like they have been planning for other countries in their All Star World Tour.

Event 1: On July 23-24, 2011, some of the NBA's finest players, including Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and Chris Paul, were invited to play an exhibition game in Philippines against the Philippines 'Smart Gilas' national team and against the all stars of the Filipino league. Because the NBA was in lockout, Kobe, Rose etc were there not representing the league but were instead on hire by a wealthy Filipino Manuel V. Pangilinan. I learnt most of the best information about this historic event in the basketball-crazed country from a fantastic Grantland article by Rafe Bartholomew.

Event 2: This took place much closer, in time and in space, to us Indians. Having prepared our first ever international Grand Prix racing circuit - the Buddh International Circuit in Noida - the first ever F1 race, the Indian Grand Prix during the weekend of October 28-30, 2011. Somehow, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), and a private company called the Jaypee Group, were able to host perhaps the most technologically-advanced sport in the world in India and host it pretty damn smoothly.

So this is what I started thinking. If a country like the Philippines (similar to India in many ways) can bring in NBA stars, and India can bring in a major sporting event like an F1 event (similar to an NBA event in several ways), why can't someone combine the two and bring an NBA event to India?

First, let's talk about how these events took place: The Philippines All Star game was made possible because of the vision of one very rich Filipino businessman, Manuel V. Pangilinan, who because of his cool initials is also known as MVP. He is a telecommunications mogul in the Philippines, and more important for our story, a HUGE basketball fan. The Philippines, in general, are filled with a basketball craze like no other, perhaps matched by craze us Indians have for cricket.

So what does MVP do? He brings together nine NBA players free from NBA obligations to his country, and pays them around $400,000 dollars each for the weekend (speculative sum, the exact amount was not revealed). The infrastructure in the country's capital of Manila wasn't going to be much of an issue because of the country's history with the game. MVP's trump card in this event was the ticket price: the Grantland story I mentioned above states: To ensure a packed house, the organizers deliberately kept ticket prices low. Courtside seats were sold at the box office for $129 and general admission tickets for about $8.. Patty Scott, CEO of an American company that worked with MVP in organising this event, said: "This wasn't about making money. It was about MVP's legacy and giving Filipinos a basketball event they've always dreamed of."

Now, NBA players have been to play exhibitions in many countries before, why is this Philippines parallel important? This is because the Philippines is a country much like India in the mixture of growth and chaos, in affluence and in poverty, in ambition and in corruption. So, it is a country where private organisations can achieve what the less organised/corrupt government-run things may not be able to.

Sound familiar? India is the goddamn KING of private-based success. Our software, outsourcing, telecommunications, education, infrastructure, and so many other fields have mostly thrived despite the government, not because of it. When the government tried their best to give a recent world-class sporting event, they gave us the Commonwealth Games. When a bunch of non-government organisations tried to do it, they organised the near-flawless Indian Grand Prix.

Which brings us to our second event. If the Philippines had MVP making basketball dreams come true, India had Jaiprakash Gaur (Chairman of Jaypee Group), Vicky Chandok (President of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India - FMSCI), Vijay Mallya (Chairman FSMCI, owner of India's 1st F1 team Force India, and the man behind everything that Kingfisher does - from beer to airlines to hot women). The Jaypee Group invested the money in building the track and hosting the Grand Prix. The FMSCI brought the organisational expertise. Both had the clout to attract their rich sponsor friends.

Learning from the Commonwealth Games fiasco, the F1 organisers kept the media at bay until the last moment, and thus, didn't allow them to critisize the negative points before celebrating the positives. Its not like there weren't glitches suffered. Some complained of dust, some laughed at the stray dog who wandered on the track during an official practice session. But in the country of the CommonWealth Games, in the state of Mayawati, we had a track completed in time, matching all the safety conditions and afterwards, garnered high praise from the world's best drivers.

F1, like the NBA, has been reaching out into Asia: both sporting bodies have realised the profits that Asia's great population and growing spending power can bring. F1 Racing is a rich man's sport, with rich drivers, rich manufactures, rich sponsors, and rich fans. NBA Basketball rich, too: rich players, rich owners, rich sponsors, but what separates the two is the fans - since basketball can be played anywhere with any type of arrangement, unlike the expensive racing world, anyone can be a basketball fan.

Watching the two sports in their arenas, though, is a slightly pricier affair. In India, there were about a 95,000 rich F1 fans at the race on Sunday, with basketball being a sport for the common man and all, will we be able to bring in enough people to fill in an arena to watch NBA stars? Or will the organiser in India do what MVP did in the Philippines: keep the ticket price low to satisfy the common Indian fan. The problem of course is that the common sports fan in the Philippines is likely to be a basketball lover to the core, while the common sports fan in India will recognise Sachin Tendulkar's back before recognising Derrick Rose's face. Unlike MVP, who wanted to satisfy the average Filipino to build his legacy, it may seem fruitless to an Indian organiser to do the same in India if there just aren't that many people craving for the sport. Unless, of course, the organiser is completely nuts about basketball and also really, really, very, extremely, crazy rich.

Even though basketball is a far more accessible sport than motor-racing, F1 does have a head start to the NBA in India The F1 has an Indian connection: Indian racers Narain Karthickeyen and Karun Chandhok participate amongst the top drivers in the world, and India has its own F1 team - Force India - owned by Vijay Mallya. Maybe NBA in India will be a better idea if an Indian player makes it to the NBA first, and/or an Indian owns an NBA team. The second part of this is already kind of true: look up Vivek Ranadivé, the Indian part-owner of the Golden State Warriors.

Overall, both the F1 in India and the NBA stars in The Philippines proved that world class, glamorous, and potentially-complicated events can be held in developing countries as long as we find the correct mixture of a lot of passion and a lot of money. India has people passionate about basketball and yes, we now have a lot of rich people off private empires. All that is left to do is find someone with the right combination of the two.

Now of course, the NBA will not always be in lockout, so the MVP-model in Philippines may not be necessarily carbon-copied. What I hope for is a pre-season/exhibition game, between any two NBA teams in India (I'd prefer Knicks-Heat, but any two would do, really... Because of the Ranadivé connection, a Warriors game makes sense.) NBA preseason games have already been held in different parts of Asia over the last few years, including China, Japan, and Taiwan. If Bernie Ecclestone, the President/CEO of F1 Management, could be romanced by the idea of the opening his company further in the NBA market, then NBA Commissioner David Stern should think about it too. After all, NBA promotion has already been running at full speed for the last few years in India: tying up with a private Indian organiser to build an arena that is satisfactory to NBA needs, and then keeping the costs relatively low for the Indian fans (Is that really possible thought?) will be the key to fulfilling the dream of our first NBA exhibition game here.

Yes, I'm a big NBA fan in India, who dreams of seeing this happen because of my love for the game. But there is one other reason. When the Indian F1 race on Sunday was won by Germany's Sebastian Vettel, he was handed the trophy by none other than Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and the world's most feared woman, Mayawati. Trust me, I would give at least half a limb to see the great Behenji and Kobe Bryant in the same frame.

Please make this dream come true. If you're a basketball crazy Indian multi-millionaire, you need to contact me. Now.

NBA's biggest stars plan exhibition world tour

Thus far, it has been an unusual off-season to the NBA, where the locked-out league saw failed negotiations between the owners at the players reach a point where actual regular season games got cancelled. Meanwhile, the locked-out players found their own way to have fun with hoops, playing exhibition games all around the USA, and for one magical week, in the Philippines, too.

If you were like me, you woke up this morning to even more depressing news about the lockout, that the bitter rift between the two sides widened and talks broke down. Well, here is some measure of good news coming via the NBA's players and a soon to be very popular Atlanta business mogul.

ESPN reported yesterday on what could be the mother of all lockout exhibition programmes: The NBA's finest players - pretty much ALL OF ITS FINEST PLAYERS, instead of a few here and there like the previous exhibitions - will be going on a two-week world tour, touching four countries in four different continents, and playing exhibition basketball games. It's the Beatles in Basketball form.

Of course, nothing is finalised yet, and a twist in the lockout negotiations story could change everything, so know that what you read ahead is only tentative.

Participating players? According to ESPN, the players taking part in this tour could include: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Amar'e Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, Carlos Boozer, Paul Pierce, Kevin Love, Kevin Garnett, and Tyson Chandler.

No this is NOT a list of the NBA's best players, this is a list of players who could face each other in these international super all star games. The only notable exceptions from this list are Dirk Nowitzki (probably resting after the Euro Basket), Dwight Howard (who has already visited 15 countries this summer), Deron Williams (currently playing professionally in Turkey), and Pau Gasol (practicing with FCB Barcelona).

The tour, scheduled to be held from October 30 - November 9th, will make stops in Puerto Rico, London, Macau, and Australia. Two games each will be played at sites in London and Australia.

(Before you ask: sorry, there's no word yet on whether Kobe/LeBron/Wade etc will be dunking on each other at Mumbai's Nagpada or Ludhiana's Guru Nanak Stadium anytime soon.)

Here's more about this Superstar World Tour from ESPN.com, as reported by Chris Broussard:

Atlanta business mogul Calvin Darden has been putting the tour together with the players' agents for nearly three months. He has already obtained signed contracts from Bryant, Wade, Bosh, Griffin, Rondo and Pierce. Sources say he's hoping to complete the rest of the agreements, along with insurance requirements, over the next few days.
Even so, sources warned that the tour has not yet been finalized and there's still a chance it could unravel.

Darden is hoping to broadcast the games in as many international markets as possible and perhaps in the United States as well.
The players will be paid, receiving salaries ranging from six figures up to $1 million, sources said. Some of the money generated by the tour will be donated to charity.
The tour would be the biggest lockout event NBA players have ever staged.

Beyond the salaries the players will receive and the overseas venues, this tour is different in that the rosters will be comprised completely of All-Star caliber players.

Darden, the former senior vice president of U.S. operations for UPS, sits on the boards of Target, Coca-Cola and Cardinal Health. He is also the chairman of his own real estate development company, The Darden Development Group. In 2002, Fortune magazine named Darden the eighth-highest ranking black executive in America.

My friends, wherever you are, let's take a moment to get up from our seats and give a slow clap for The Talented Mr. Darden right now for potentially pulling off something massive like this. On second thought, let's hold the applause until this tour is actually finalised.

Meanwhile, the NBA's owners and players are not letting you and me and all the other fans enjoy the league we so love over a difference of 2.5 percent.

A Hooponic Plague

It was a classic case of self-denial: we've all done it, and we've all suffered by it. It is a common human reaction to clear upcoming tragedy and depression to pretend that it's not really happening, to distract ourselves with other matters, to imagine that it couldn't really last that long.

By a matter of sheer coincidence, I happen to be re-reading 'The Plague', the English translation of the French novel by my favourite author, Albert Camus. In this haunting, existential novel, the residents of a small French town are forced to come to terms with the reality that something of a bubonic plague is killing off hundreds of their fellow men and women daily, and forcing the town into a complete shutdown, or a 'lock' down, if you like.

But what is more interesting than the tragedy is the delayed reaction to the tragedy: until it hits him where it personally hurts, most of the townspeople in the story refuse to buck down and change their normal mentality and way of life: they go on passing through their lives in complete denial of the fact that one by one they will be losing their lives or the lives of their loved ones, and that the rest of their loved ones outside the town have been locked out, away from them, perhaps never to see them again.

Let's leave fiction behind and awaken back to our much-kinder reality: With the new CBA deadline approaching, there were whispers of an NBA Lockout over a year ago, which I had scoffed at and suppressed, focused more with the exciting storylines of the new NBA season: the three-headed monster that became the Miami Heat, the dramatic rise of Derrick Rose, and the Knicks' return to relevance. The whispers got louder as the season progressed, but louder still were Blake Griffin's dunks, Carmelo Anthony's trade to New York, and every bit of useless information that was fed to us about the over-scrutinised Heat. As the season reached its conclusion, I was left in awe after an incredible, unpredictable two months of the playoffs, where the Thunder and the Grizzlies surprised, the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs fell too early, LeBron James choked, and Dirk and the Mavs rose against all odds to the promised land. It was an amazing end to an amazing season. Bad News Lockout Bears be damned.

Until the lockout actually happened. With the CBA deadline passing on July 1, 2011, we were officially in a lockout. The whispers were really loud now, too hard to ignore because there was little else going on in the NBA calender in the off-season. I heard everyone from David Stern and Adam Silver to Billy Hunter and Derek Fisher tell me that this was going to be a long haul, a gap too far apart to bridge easily. It was going to take hours of meetings and money talk and men in suits and other stuff that sports fan don't want to understand.

But it still didn't feel real. I mean, all that we missed in July were player photographs/mentions on the NBA's official sites. The offseason wasn't supposed to have any games anyways, so how was a lockout going to change anything, right?

Still in denial.

There was a little more missing this off-season. Rumours. Ideas. Possibilities. What ifs. What if such-and-such team sign this-and-that free agent? What if Team A trade injury-ridden-star to Team B for selfish-star? Who will be the team to watch this season? Who will be the most improved player? Which rookie will make the biggest difference? Etc. Etc. Etc. These were all the type of questions I wondered and discussed every off-season, but this time, the conversations seemed awfully hollow. Every sentence was prefixed with 'If the lockout ends...': If the lockout ends, Kevin Durant will become the best player in the league. If the lockout ends, the Heat will have the best chance to win a championship. If the lockout ends, Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, and Jimmer Fredette will back the Kings the league's new up-and-coming team to watch.

But the Lockout was showing no signs of end, or even any signs of subsiding. The blows from both sides: the NBA and the NBA Players Association (NBPA) came harder and harder, and the effects were felt more and more with each passing day, with each day that the sides came closer to not sorting this shit out. Fans were anticipating men in suits at meetings like they anticipated their favourite players showing up on the court, except that the new anticipation was annoying, boring, and downright depressing.

I still didn't let it get to me though: I followed everything that happened, all the agreements that weren't made, and I still chose to remain emotionally unaffected. It still wasn't hitting close enough to home yet.

And just like that, we were in October. And instead of training camps and Media Days around the league, I heard crickets.

The pre-season which was supposed to start on October 9th, got cancelled: first by two weeks, and then completely. For something I had been expecting for months, I was still shocked. But hell, it's only the pre-season right? The games don't count, anyways.

But on October 10th, a day into the non-happening pre-season, I, and every other NBA fan on the planet, felt the first real torturous blows of this entire messy affair. After another long NBA/NBPA meeting yesterday, the NBA cancelled the first two weeks of the regular season, which was slated to begin on November 1st. That's a 100 games across the league cancelled, vanished, poof into thin air.

Until recently, the percentages being fought over, the zeroes at the end of the contracts, the number of millions being lost and gained here and there, were just that: numbers. Just like the casualty numbers collected and announced by the doctor in 'The Plague', unfeeling and unrelatable. But with actual games being missed, it's all too real: it's not about which side gets what percentage, it's about no Bulls vs Mavericks on November 1st, no showdown of Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant on the first day of the season, no sign of seeing the full-strength Heat take on the resurgent Knicks the next day, no one for Blake Griffin to dunk on, no one for Kevin Garnett to intimidate, and no sign of a Laker running up and down the court with the words 'World Peace' on his back.

Two weeks isn't much you say. Well, it is enough to end my delayed reaction, my denial to his Hooponic Plague. What makes it worse is that the two sides are no closer to an agreement. In his story for Yahoo! Sports today, Adrian Wojnarowski quoted players and GMs saying things such as “We remain very, very apart on all issues,” “We have a gulf that separates us," and “I think the best-case scenario now is 50 games, but I can see the whole season gone."

It's happened. We are not just missing rumours, or photographs on a website, or practice, or exhibition matches: we are missing NBA games. And by the looks of it, we will be missing many more. It's like 1998 all over again, and I really hope it's not worse than that last lockout.

Perhaps its time for me to take the stance that the NBPA's president Derek Fisher took after yesterday's meetings, and be realistic about what has been coming this way for over a year. “We anticipated being in this situation,” Fisher said, “and here we are.”

Games are lost, and we could continue losing them. No amount of charity defense-less dunk-fests, street-ball 50-point outbursts, exhibition all-star games, WNBA, foreign hoops, college hoops or anything else can replace the sadness of losing NBA games.

We need this resolved fast, so start praying to your Gods now: I'm turning to Camus and Michael Jordan.

Spain are once again Europe's finest basketball team

Did you follow the EuroBasket? You know, that thing featuring the best basketball teams in Europe, and the best European basketball players, and some incredible hoops in Lithuania the past three weeks? No, LeBron and Kobe weren't there. They didn't need to be: as the EuroBasket 2011 proved, we have come a long way in the last two decades. Basketball in Europe was always competitive and featured high-quality, but now, it is becoming mainstream too, and in my opinion, more exciting than ever.

With the NBA lockout threatening to keep us away from high-quality basketball for a long, long time, there was no better place to see the next best thing of competitive world class hoops action than the EuroBasket. No fear, NBA-philes, for there was a healthy representation of the league in this championship. The Final of the EuroBasket featured the two teams with the most NBA players: Spain and France. What does that prove? Well, first of all, NBA teams know what the hell they are up to and are signing the world's best players. And secondly, it's showing the confidence that European players are gleaning from their time in the NBA, which is helping up dominate back home.

The champions were once again Spain, who have now won the EuroBasket for the second time in a row, and are perhaps the world's best team outside of the mighty USA, and were the only team to push the 'Redeem Team' to the brink in the 2008 Olympics. Don't worry, Spain fans, your team will get that chance again: by qualifying for the EuroBasket finals, both Spain and France also booked their place for the 2012 Olympics. USA are already there because of their World Championship victory.

But back to the EuroBasket final, though: it was a fair final, featuring two of the best teams in the competition. Spain's NBA representation came in the form of the mighty Gasol brothers (Pau and Marc), Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon, and newly nationalised Serge Ibaka. Funny, because the one man this list doesn't mention is the man who was actually named MVP of the tournament, Juan Carlos Navarro.

France had the likes of Tony Parker, Joakim Noah, Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, and Kevin Seraphin. Mikael Pietrus, another talented French player in the NBA, missed the tournament due to injury.

The final was more or less the Navarro show, as the talented swingman carried off the momentum he had going in the semi-final to pour in 27 points and added five assists in the final. The Barcelona player known as "La Bomba" had 35 points against Macedonia in the semis just a few nights earlier. The EuroBasket MVP averaged 18.7 ppg in the course of the tournament, but saved his biggest performances for the end.

Spain led most of the way and won the game 98-85, which is quite a high-scoring result for an international game. Pau Gasol, who I still believe is Spain's most important player, seemed to be playing hobbled through the course of the tournament, but he still poured in 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Final. Gasol averaged 20.1 ppg and 8.3 rpg in the tournament.

Tony Parker was easily the best point guard in Europe in the tournament, and scored 26 points in a losing effort in the Final. Parker was the leading scorer at the EuroBasket, averaging 22.1 ppg.

One of the stories of the championship was the team from Macedonia. Completely underrated, Macedonia had a fairy-tale run into the Semi-Finals, which included an incredible victory over the hosts and superpower Lithuania in the Quarter-Finals. Macedonia were led by Bo McCalebb, an American born Macedonia-nationalised player, who averaged 21.4 ppg in the course of the tournament.

And then there was Russia: a team which quietly and efficiently went about their business, losing only one game, that a semi-final to France, en-route to a third place finish in the tournament. Russia were led, as usual, by the brilliant Andrei Kirilenko (who has unfortunately not been that brilliant for the Utah Jazz over the past several years). Russia defeated Macedonia in a close game 72-68, to win third place.

The biggest disappointment of the EuroBasket was found in Spain too, and he went by the name of Ricky Rubio. Few 20-year-olds have had this many pendulum swings in individual form, team success, and public opinion than Rubio. A player who became a star at 15, was troubling the world's best at the Olympics in 2008, was drafted by the Timberwolves in 2009 and didn't show, won a lot with his club and his country, but somewhere in between, completely lost confidence and now seems to be a ghost of a player we once saw. And all this before he can legally buy himself a drink in America: which is something he should be thinking about right now, since Rubio is finally making his trip to the NBA to play for the T-Wolves when and if the Lockout ends. Rubio had a horrible championship, but hey, he was the point guard / floor general of the best team in Europe. His talent will never be statified, so I won't even try: you have to watch him play and see the team results to decide how good or bad he is.

So, to sum it up, Rubio was bad at the Euros, but he was good enough to win!

The other disappointment was Turkey, who, after a brilliant silver-medal performance at the World Championship, couldn't even make it past the group stage in this tournament, and ended at 11th place.

In the earlier rounds, players like Luol Deng for Great Britain and Dirk Nowitzki for Germany carried their teams as far as they could with good individual play - Dirk had a little more help by Chris Kaman in his side, actually.

Here are the final standings:

1. Spain

2. France

3. Russia

4. Macedona

5. Lithuania

Here is the All Tournament team:

PG: Tony Parker (France)

SG: Bo McCalebb (France)

SF: Juan Carlos Navarro (Spain) - MVP

PF: Andrei Kirilenko (Russia)

C: Pau Gasol (Spain)

Q&A: Steve Smith – “Basketball in India is moving into a positive direction”

If you followed NBA basketball closely in the 90s, there is little chance that you would’ve missed the great Steve Smith. Boasting a buttery-smooth jump shot, a hunger for racking up points, and a winner’s mentality, Smith enjoyed a successful pro basketball career, highlighted by an NBA championship (2003), a FIBA World Championship (1994), and an Olympic gold medal (2000).

Currently, Smith serves as a studio analyst for NBA TV. He appears on NBA GameTime, a live studio show featuring highlights, analysis, commentary and live look-ins at games being played across the league.

Smith has been in India for the last few days, as a special guest to help inaugurate NBA Jam, which is NBA-India’s ‘travelling basketball festival’, at the Ambiance Mall in Gurgaon on Saturday, September 10. In addition, Smith took part in a different type of interactive basketball programme earlier, as he spent Thursday and Friday morning working with India’s U16 National select teams, who are currently in camp at the Indira Gandhi stadium in New Delhi.

I spoke to Smith on Saturday about his time in India, his experience of working with the Indian youngsters, and the future of the NBA globally:

Hoopistani: Is this your first time in India? How has your experience been so far?

Smith: Yes it is my first time here and I’ve been enjoying it a lot, especially the time that I spent working with the U16 teams.

Hoopistani: Describe your experience with the U16 sides? What drills did you work on? Anything in specific that you shared with them?

Smith: It was great: I worked with the U16 boys side on Thursday and Friday, and with the girls just on Friday. It was a good chance for me to spend time teaching them some drills. The kids are very passionate about the game of basketball.

We did a lot of drills: I even played a game in one of the boys’ teams. For the girls, I helped coach a side for a practice game.

The drills that we practiced included perfecting different kind of shots and jump-shots, and specifically, we worked on getting their balance right. The U16 coaches wanted my help in many other specific situations, for example, in setting up good out-of-bound plays. We touched on several other drills, such as rebounding, defense, and dribbling.

The best part was that the kids were asking me a lot of questions and had a genuine desire to improve their game. I was very impressed by their interest in the game.

Hoopistani: You’ve trained the future players, the under-16s of India: What do you feel about the future of basketball in the country?

Smith: I think the future of the game is in great hands. Basketball in India is moving in a positive direction. I have met some passionate coaches who want to learn and help improve the level of play in the young players here.

Hoopistani: How do you think that programmes like the NBA Jam will help promote the NBA here?

Smith: The NBA Jam is going to be fantastic: I call it a basketball arcade. It will have many interactive events to engage fans of the game and get them enthusiastic about NBA and about basketball. It will be great fun, especially for the kids who attend and learn more about the NBA.

Hoopistani: The NBA has been heavily involved in promoting the game over the past few years. What are its future plans in India?

Smith: Well, I think the NBA is going to continue doing the things it is already doing: bringing in more players here into India, holding more events such as the Mahindra NBA Challenge. We want to see the game succeed here, and so we will keep increasing our efforts of bringing the game into this country.

Hoopistani: The NBA has now become a global league – international players are having starring roles and the league has reached out to fans across the globe. What will be the next step in continuing to grow the league internationally?

Smith: I think the next step will probably be in having an NBA team in another part of the world or in further promoting NBA teams to more places around the world. The NBA has indeed helped in making basketball a global game – and we will keep striving to take it into more and more countries.

Hoopistani: And the golden question of the day: When will the NBA return again? When will the lockout end?

Smith: If I had an answer to that then I’d be a very rich man!

But really, it seems like things are heading in the right steps. The two sides are meeting each other often now and everyone is working on making sure that the season starts on time.

NBA Jam to tip off in India for third consecutive year

NBA-India Press Release, Delhi: The NBA is launching its largest fan event ever in India when NBA Jam tips off in Gurgaon (NCR) on September 10. The traveling interactive basketball festival will bring the sights and sounds of the NBA to high traffic malls across India as part of the league’s commitment to grow the sport and its fan base in the country.

The programme, returning for the third consecutive year, has expanded and will visit five malls in four cities and feature more basketball activities and celebrity appearances and fan prizes than ever before.

Former NBA Champion Steve Smith will appear in Gurgaon at the Ambience Mall on September 10-11 to tip off the tour, which will also travel to malls in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, and Mumbai. Smith will interact with fans by providing basketball tips and signing autographs. As part of his trip, Smith will also train with India’s Youth Men’s National Team at Indira Gandhi Stadium and make various appearances for NBA Jam partners.

Smith, who currently serves as a studio analyst for NBA TV, was an NBA All-Star in 1998, won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003, and was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team that won a gold medal in Sydney, Australia.

“Basketball is a global game and I am very excited for my first trip to India to join the NBA’s efforts to grow the sport,” said Smith. “NBA Jam is going to be a great event that will provide fans across India with a unique opportunity to experience the NBA.”

NBA Jam will transport fans to the floor of an NBA arena on Center Court, which will host exciting skill competitions such as the HP Free Throw Contest, and the adidas Shootout. Fans can also test their basketball knowledge during NBA trivia games.

The tour will feature the first-ever Sprite NBA 3-on-3 tournament in India in each city for players 16 to 21. Winning teams from each city will earn an all-expense paid trip to Mumbai to compete in the Sprite NBA 3-on-3 National Championship Finals on Oct. 8-9 at the Phoenix Mills Mall. The National Champions will receive NBA prizes.

Sprite will also conduct its first-ever NBA promotion in India which will launch in conjunction with NBA Jam and will include a grand prize all-expense paid trip to the United States for five lucky winners. The ‘Sprite NBA Basket Blast’ promotion will provide fans that purchase a Sprite at participating outlets from the middle of September to middle of October an opportunity to win a trip to New York to visit the city’s landmarks and tour NBA headquarters.

Here is the schedule for the 3rd NBA Jam:

Gurgaon: Sept. 10-11 Ambience Mall

Delhi: Sept. 17-18 Select City Walk

Bangalore: Sept. 24-25 Forum Mall

Chennai: Oct. 1-2 Express Avenue Mall

Mumbai: Oct. 8-9 Phoenix Mills Mall

Impact Basketball League - Basketball isn't Locked Out!

The NBA is in a lockout. The game of basketball certainly isn't.

Sure, what the NBA provided was the perfect platform for the best basketball players in the world to compete at the highest level. And sure, I'm mildly disturbed every second without NBA hoops this off-season, and perhaps for the locked-out 2011-12 season. But as we've been hearing over the last month or so - NBA players aren't exactly on strike against basketball. NBA players have been going international and hitting the streets hoops scene regularly during the off-season, showing their commitment to keep improving their game or keeping that competitive fire burning within them. The European players in the league haven't even had to try hard for high-level hoops action, as the 2011 Eurobasket is providing them just that.

But then came along a novel idea that is sure to provide a little more respite to hoops-starved fans. As Howard Beck of The New York Times reported a few days ago, more than 40 NBA players will get together in an unofficial 'Lockout League' in Las Vegas from September 12 - 23rd (just 12 days, I know, but better than nothing!). Players from the Knicks, Rockets, Clippers and many more will be joining this competition, which will be officially called the Impact Basketball Competitive Training Series: the only things that it will share with the NBA are NBA players and basketball!

Some of the big name players competing will include: Chauncey Billups, John Wall, Zach Randolph, and Stephen Jackson.

Here is more information from The New York Times:

The site will be the Impact Basketball gymnasium, about two miles from the Strip. The unofficial commissioner will be Joe Abunassar, a longtime trainer of N.B.A. players. More than 40 players, locked out of NBA facilities because of a labor standoff, have committed to play.

As many as eight teams, featuring seven or eight players each, will play daily starting Sept. 12. The series will end with two days of playoffs, with a championship game Sept. 23. Games will be officiated and played under NBA rules, albeit with 10-minute quarters and without coaches barking from the benches.
The plan is to sell tickets (about 500 a day, with proceeds donated to charity) and to stream the games live on the Internet.

Teams will be assembled with an eye toward parity and with an emphasis on keeping N.B.A. teammates together. Billups will probably be joined by his Knicks teammates Shawne Williams and Iman Shumpert. Another roster will feature at least four Rockets: Kyle Lowry, Chuck Hayes, Chase Budinger and Courtney Lee. Mo Williams and DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers will form the core of a team, with hopes that their teammate Blake Griffin, last season’s rookie of the year, will join them.
Others who have committed include J. J. Hickson of the Kings, Eric Maynor of the Thunder, Al Harrington of the Nuggets, Jermaine O’Neal of the Celtics and Jared Dudley of the Suns.
Box scores will be kept. Standings will be posted. The stakes may be minimal, but the egos will be active. The competition level should be much higher than the typical summer exhibition.

If all goes well in Las Vegas — and if all goes poorly at the bargaining table — Abunassar will stage another two-week series in October, he said. And in November and December, if necessary.

Nice work, Mr. Abunassar. Even though I would rather wish that the NBA Lockout ends and your league doesn't work out, I'm glad that some sort of challenging and competitive basketball is coming our way. I will obviously be supporting the Knicks'-heavy squad, and it will be great to see games in which defense will actually matter!

Hopefully the Impact Basketball League is a success - And for the next time this league is held (if there is a next time), bigger name stars get tempted to join in and make it an even more exciting event.

Mahindra NBA Challenge to tip off in Thiruvanathapuram for first-time ever

The Mahindra NBA Challenge, the largest, multi-city, community-based basketball league in India, is tipping off in Thiruvanathapuram for the first time on Sept. 3. This will mark the NBA’s first event in the state of Kerala and as part of the league’s commitment to grow the sport of basketball in the country.



The Mahindra NBA Challenge, conducted in collaboration with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), the Kerela Basketball Association, and the Thiruvanathapuram District Basketball Association will run for eight weeks culminating on October 16.



Thiruvanathapuram is the fifth and final city participating in season two of the program following leagues held in Bangalore, Delhi, Ludhiana and Mumbai. Participation has increased by 30% from the inaugural season in 2010 with more than 6,000 participants.



Approximately 100 teams will participate in Thiruvanathapuram across four divisions: sub-junior for ages 12 to 13, youth for ages 14 to16, and junior for ages 16 to 18 and adults 19 and over.



Thiruvanathapuram, and the state of Kerala, are a natural choice for the NBA and for the basketball programme to head for next: Kerala has amongst the most fervent and well-organised hoops cultures in India. It is the state that has nursed some great Indian players, including Geethu Anna Jose, the first Indian player to be offered a trial with WNBA teams. Dozens of school competitions are already held annually in the state. A few months ago, the Director of Basketball Operations of NBA-India Troy Justice held camps for coaches and players in Thiruvanathapuram.



The Mahindra NBA Challenge will provide NBA-style basketball training in a fun environment and offer players the chance to compete against each other at the Central Stadium.



The league will culminate with a weekend-long celebration of basketball from October 14 to 16 that will feature an all-star game, semi-finals and finals. The event will engage the community with NBA-style entertainment, musical and dance performances and on-court basketball contests where fans can win exciting prizes.



The inaugural Mahindra NBA Challenge, held from April 2010 to September 2010, included leagues in Mumbai, Ludhiana, and Bangalore and attracted thousands of participants, including members of India’s Men’s and Women’s National Basketball Team. For more information please visit www.facebook.com/mahindranbachallenge.

Argentina-Venezuela come to India for Football Friendly - Are NBA teams next?

First of all, let's assume that there is no such thing as an NBA lockout (even though there is), and soon, our NBA-addicted lives will return to normality when the 2011-12 season starts, probably in time (which it won't) to once again experience the best basketball in the world. Okay? Not too much of a stretch of an imagination, I hope?



Now, let's briefly switch sports: as any football fan in India would probably know by now, a galaxy of superstars are about to play the first ever official FIFA international friendly game in India today. The game will be held - where else? - but at Kolkata, the heart-land of the game in India. It will be Argentina vs. Venezuala, and the interest of course, lies mostly with Argentina, a country that has produced amazing winning teams and legendary football players throughout its history. And its a team that features the current alpha-dog aka BEST PLAYER ALIVE in the game of Football, in Lionel Messi. Football fanatics in India, and there is a growing number of them, have been celebrating this long-awaited opportunity to be in the presence of a great player like him. Of course, he won't be the only star: Argentina's current squad that will play in India will feature the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria, Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, and Sergio Aguero.



Venezuela may be the "underdogs" in this matchup, but they are still ranked over a 100 spots ahead of India in the FIFA rankings, which means that, even without the star-studden Argentine cast, the Venezuelan team alone could produce football much better than most Indian fans would've seen live.



This major fixture could open the floodgates for much more world-class football action in India - already, there are signs that there will be a full, professional football league around the corner here. Meanwhile, the top football clubs in the world are shifting their attention towards the subcontinent and rest of Asia. Real Madrid and Barcelona adjusted their game timings so to better suit the Asian TV timings. Barcelona, Liverpool, and Manchester United are looking to open football academies here; United already has bars themed after itself around the country. Two EPL teams - Blackburn and Queens Park Rangers - are Indian-owned, and continue to have relationships in the country to develop talent and interest from India.



Could more high-quality, international games be that far away then? If Argentina/Messi can play in India, why not bring Spain, Brazil, England, Holland, Portugal, etc? The fans are just whetting their appetites: they want to see Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Xavi, Chicharito, Iniesta, Sneijder, etc, etc, etc... Barcelona are even pondering bringing a pre-season tour to India in a couple of years.



Football teams look forward to the risk and the opportunity of breaking into India because they can afford to do so. Now lets revert back to our merry old locked-out NBA: Some of the world's richest, most marketable, and most freakishly talented sportsmen in the world play in the NBA. And just like interest from different football teams and from FIFA into breaking into the Indian market, the NBA has done pretty well to bring their big name players here to help increase enthusiasm and fan following for the sport. Over the past few years, dozens NBA/WNBA players or legends have come to India, including Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Baron Davis, Kevin Garnett, Brandon Jennings, AC Green, Dikembe Mutumbo, George Gervin, and others. There is no doubt that many more will come in the future.



(Remember, we're assuming that the lockout will be over and things will be all pink and merry again).



But the big move will come the day we here that an actual world-class basketball game - and by that, I directly mean an NBA game - will be played in India. It would be a pre-season exhibition, of course. If the best football players in the world can play at the highest level in Indian soil, why not the best basketball players? When will we see Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, or Dirk Nowitzki play in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, etc?



Over a year ago, I wrote an article about how an NBA Preseason game in India in the near future is nothing but a pipe dream; unfortunately, despite the growth of other sports and NBA's own continued outreach into our borders, I continue to host the same pessimism.



There are several factors still holding us back: despite the increase in good quality basketball courts around the country, we are still nowhere near the type of facility and infrastructure that NBA players will risk playing on. Now, I know that the previous sentence sounds ridiculous in the light of the fact that so many of the NBA's best players have spent the lockout playing streetball in less than flattering settings: but those were possible because A) they played independently of the NBA, and so didn't carry the 'professionalism' that the league expects, and B) they mostly played in a familiar/comfortable environment which they were used to in their own country.



The NBA is no stranger to holding official games outside the borders of the United States (and Toronto): They have been holding preseason games around Europe for years now, and even held its first ever regular season games in London between the Raptors and the Nets in March.



Even Asia has had its share of NBA action: The NBA has played six games in Japan since the 1990s, and has held preseason games in China since 2004, after Chinese star Yao Ming joined the Houston Rockets in 2002: the first game obviously featured the Yao-powered rockets against the Sacramento Kings. In 2009, when the Nuggets met the Pacers in Taipei, it became the eight Asian city to host either an NBA regular season or preseason game, along with Tokyo, Yokohama, and Saitama in Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China; and Macau.



What does all this add up to? It means that we're closer than before to getting an NBA exhibition game in India, but we're still miles away. With football, it is relatively easier to adhere to the international FIFA standards in terms of organisation, facilities, etc to host a major, world-class game. Basketball's highest equivalent level, the NBA, has far stiffer standards, and India still has a lot more catching up to do before Commissioner Stern decides to take a chance with us.



Luckily, India has the one thing to offer in the long term future that very few of its Asian competitors can: a large population and an open economy. Which means that the already fast-growing market for NBA here is going to accelerate into the stratosphere in the future, and soon, denying us our live NBA action will be impossible!



Let's enjoy some good football (in India) and some good NBA hoops till then. Speaking of which, when is this lockout thing ending again?

NBA players go Wild, International

It's been 55 days, 7 hours, 5 minutes, 14 seconds, and counting since the NBA announced that it will commence a lockout of its players, until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), as per the excellent counter on SLAMOnline.com. There was never going to be basketball in the off-season, anyways, but with a lockout, there will be no official training camp, no Summer League, no pre-season, and no regular season until the agreement is reached.



Take a deep breath, inhale the disaster and depression of this happening, and then exhale it all out. There is an extremely faint silver lining to all this doom and gloom.



One of the most interesting lists currently online is on the excellent basketball website, HoopsHype.com. Go to HoopsHype.com/Overseas.htm and you will immediately unlock a wealth of information in one short html page. This is because this page currently lists NBA players who have signed a contract to play with international teams during the lockout, and another list of players who are considering it. NBA players aren't just the world's biggest basketball superstars, they are also the world's hardest working basketball players, and like you and me and your cousin and that guy you punked on the court last week, they really, really love the game. A prolonged period without competitive basketball can be hell for even the best of them, and that's why, many NBA players are opting for the next best solution: playing overseas until the issue is resolved. FIBA cleared the way for NBA players under contract to play overseas until work stoppage, and many players are taking advantage of this.



Now, NBA players have been flirting with the overseas option for a long time. Amongst the American players who have made the jump recently have included former MVP Allen Iverson (who played for Besiktas in Turkey last year), Stephon Marbury (played in the Chinese Basketball Association, the CBA, for the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons and the Foshan Dralions, and was the CBA's all star MVP!) Josh Childress (played for Olympiacos in Greece from 2008-10), Rafer Alston (for Zhejiang Guangsha in China), Casey Jacobsen (who has spent several years in the German League, and has dominated, winning Finals MVP twice), and Steve Francis (who had a failed stint with the Beijing Ducks in China). Of course, a lot of the NBA's international players have also chosen to go back to their home countries in the past after a stint in the NBA, such as Rasho Nesterovic, Juan Carlos Navarro, Fran Vasquez, and many many more whom I can't think of right now.



But now, the situation is different. Of course, the NBA is considered to be the Mecca for basketball stars, as the ultimate destination for the world's best players. Earlier, NBA stars went overseas if they weren't getting their desired salary/role/opportunity to play with the NBA; now, with the lockout, none of the players will be getting their desired salary/role/opportunity. It's a free for all.



The biggest name to sign an overseas contract so far in this lockout has been Nets' point guard Deron Williams, who made waves by announcing that he was going to sign with Besiktas in Turkey for the duration of the lockout. Williams, one of the best point guards in the NBA, immediately becomes the best "in his prime" player to take his talents outside the NBA, at least in recent years.



Since the lockout, Williams has been followed by many more. A quick glance of the list of 30 players (and growing) on HoopsHype shows up names such as Toronto's Leandro Barbosa, who has signed with Flamengo in his home country of Brazil, Nenad Krstic, who will be heading to play for CSKA Moscow in Russia, Ty Lawson has signed a contract with Zalgiris Kaunus in Lithuania, and Nicolas Batum of the TrailBlazers is going back to France to play for Nancy.



The biggest name who has been linked with overseas play though has been Kobe Bryant. Kobe was recruited heavily by Besiktas in Turkey and by Shanxi Zhongyu in China. So far, there has been no formal commitment by Kobe, but watch this space.



China seems to be by far the best destination for NBA players, and funny, that the one to make the breakthrough in this country was NBA-nutcase Stephon Marbury. But the problem with China is that the CBA have aren't happy with NBA players using them and leaving them: they have decided to ban players already with an NBA contract to sign a contract with a Chinese team. Immediately, players like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Amar'e Stoudemire, etc, who had expressed interest in China before, had to back off a bit. Kobe could still play in China though, as Shanxi Zhongyu has invited Kobe to play for the team in some warm-up games or exhibition games before the CBA season starts, which is not against the rule.



Amongst the other players who are showing interest in going the international way include Ron Artest, who has been flirting with the Cheshire Jets, a team of the British Basketball League. Brandon Jennings, who spent one year playing in Italy before coming to the NBA, is considering heading back out there again. Other players showing 'high' interest to jet overseas include Stephen Curry, Andrei Kirilenko, Aaron Brooks, Jared Dudley, and many, many more.



Not everyone, of course, feels that it is necessary to sign a professional contract overseas to play overseas: the mother of all lockout/international news came from the Philippines, where Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Durant, Chris Paul, JaVale McGee, James Harden, Derrick Williams, and Tyreke Evans played in two exhibition games. News is that after the success at Philippines, NBA stars like Durant, Rose, Paul, and Pau Gasol will head to Australia for a tour next.



Back in the States, Kevin Durant has been absolutely killing the street basketball world this lockout, including an impressive 66 point game at the Rucker Park. Kobe and James Harden have had impressive performances at the Drew League. There have been several other notable streetball appearances by NBA stars.



And then there are players who are getting even more creative with their time: The Lakers Luke Walton has joined the University of Memphis as an assistant coach. Former Kentucky players like John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Eric Bledsoe, and Jodie Meeks might go back to complete their education. A former Volleyball superstar, the Rockets' Chase Budinger returns to try his hand again at the sport.



And it's a good thing, too, because there is nothing more dangerous and being idol in many cases. Already, the off-season has seen NBA players get themselves in all sorts of wildness. Michael Beasley was caught with weed, and later shoved a fan during a streetball game. Matt Barnes punched a fan, too. Darius Miles, who was arrested for trying to bring a loaded gun through airport security, Rafer Alston, who was sued over his alleged role in a strip club fight, and Samaki Walker, who allegedly tried to eat eight grams of marijuana during a traffic stop in Arizona, during which police also confiscated prescription drugs and liquid steroids. The great Kobe Bryant is being accused of hitting someone who tried to take a cell-phone photo of him in church.



Aaaaahhh... How I miss the good ol' days when the daily basketball related news items were about Derrick Rose winning an MVP or LeBron James choking against the Mavericks. Now, we have to deal with an off-season of emptiness, with no horizon in sight, although it has been mildly improved by the NBA players' enthusiasm at playing the game they love, whenever and wherever!



The NBA may or may not be coming soon (probably the latter), but there is hope ahead: The European Basketball Championship, or EuroBasket, featuring the best players in Europe, including several NBA stars, kicks off in Lithuania in a little more than a week. As the message on the T-shirts that some NBA players wore of the Goodman-Drew streetball game says: 'Basketball Never Stops'.

Hall of The Worm

I was 11 when I first decided to give the game of basketball a chance. I wasn't very inspired and wasn't very good. I played mostly in the Ridgewood Dorm basketball court in my boarding school, a court that had some of the most unique dimensions I have ever experienced: two nine-and-half-feet high baskets, separated on a not-so-straight open court, barely two-thirds the size of a real court. The basket on one of the ends was on a tree. Yes!



But it was here that I first tried out my very limited hand in the game, and I did what every bumbling, struggling, out-of-sync newcomer does: find out that one thing that I was comfortable with, and then specialise in it. Some of the guys were great at outside shots from their hot-spots. Some were aspiring Jason Williams', focusing more on how beautiful their dribble looked than their actual shot. Some had become so familiar with the backboards that they had an uncanny and unstoppable skill of Dwyane-Wade-esque difficult layups, a skills that came especially handy when playing Air-21.



I had an awkward shot, the worst handles known to man, and little to no court vision. But I did have incredibly long arms, giving me a wingspan longer than even the boys who were taller than me. During shoot-around, we played the simple 'make it - take it' system: if you make it, you get the ball back. Otherwise, the dozen or so people standing below the basket hustle and fight for the rebound to get a chance at their own shot.



And so, my longer-than-average-arms, and the challenge to win a rebound against a dozen others against low odds, combined to gave me my first real basketball skills: rebounding. And it was during my rebounding dominant moments that some NBA-affluent friend called me a 'Worm'.



"A what?"



"A Worm. The Worm. Like Dennis Rodman."



Rodman.



I didn't know squat about the NBA beyond Magic & Michael when I first heard the name Rodman, but it wasn't going to be easy to forget him once I dug a little deeper. I found out that this cross-dressing, cameraman-kicking, hair-bleaching, strange man was also the man synonomous with rebounds. As a matter of fact, I will be shocked if Oxford made an Official Basketball Dictionary and a photograph of Dennis Rodman didn't take up the full page next to the definition of 'rebounds'.



Because Dennis Rodman, or 'The Worm' as he was nicknamed, is the greatest rebounder of the basketball in history. And now I'm going to tell you why.



A week ago, Dennis Rodman was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame, a moment he capped off with one of the most emotional speeches ever given at the Hall. At only 6-foot-7 inches, Rodman constantly played bigger than his size, defending both the forward positions and the Center with ease, and playing power forward for most of his career on the offensive end. The post-merger NBA has never seen a more tenacious rebounder: Rodman led the league in rebounding an unbelievable SEVEN times, from 1992-1998! And this was in an era where he regularly went up against the likes of Hakeem Olajuwan, Charles Barkley, Shaq, Charles Oakley, Kevin Garnett, and Karl Malone.



Here was a man who averaged just 7.3 points per game during the course of his career and now finds himself in the Hall of Fame. It was his rebounding and defense that got him enshrined in the Hall, and the rebound stats in particular tell more than their share of the tale. Since 1973, no player has had a better rebounding average than Rodman, at 13.1 a game. Since 1973, Rodman owns five out of the top eight single season rebounding records, with a top two of 18.7 rpg and 18.3 rpg in 1992 and 1993 respectively. Take a look at those dates again: these otherworldy stats weren't achieved in the 'black-and-white' era of Chamberlain-Russell NBA, where the NBA only had a few taller athletic players and a fast paced to the game meant that the likes of Chamberlain and Russell got most of the rebounds available. These stats are from relatively recent years - the 90s, an era that Rodman dominated.



And as the old adage says, "Defense and Rebounding wins championships" - and Rodman did his fair share of winning too, getting five rings. He was the defensive heart and soul of the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys teams that won two rings in 1989 and 1990, and part of his responsibility was shutting down Michael Jordan. He spent a couple of seasons with the Spurs, where he began to stake his claim as the most dominant rebounder in the league. And as most recent history will remember him, he joined Jordan and Pippen in the legendary Chicago Bulls team for their second three-peat, winning three more championships from 1996-98.



And on a sidenote: how damn great was that Bulls team? They had the greatest player of all time, the greatest wingman/do-it-all player of all time, and the greatest rebounder of all time. The best part of the Jordan-Pippen-Rodman trio was that not only were they the teams three biggest stars, but they were the three best defenders, perhaps three of the top six or seven defenders in the league at their time.



During the course of his career, Rodman was named Defensive Player of the Year twice while with the Pistons, was an all star twice (few players not named Ben Wallace become all stars by averaging below 10 points a game), and seven times into the NBA All Defensive first team.



He did some time with the Lakers and the Mavs before calling it a day, but one of the most amusing things for me to now check up Rodman's career are the names of the teams he played for AFTER his NBA career: these include the Long Beach Jam, Orange County Crush, and Tijuana Dragons of the ABA, a team in Finland (Torpan Pojat) and in England (Brigton Bears).



On the course of his journey, Rodman did a lot of crazy shit too, and it is perhaps his extracurricular activities that made him so unpredictable off the court. Out of the large number of these activities, here are my top 3:

1) He wore a wedding dress to promote his autobiography.

2) He was a part time pro-wrestler, and fought alongside Hulk Hogan

3) He was in a movie with Jean Claude Van Damme, called Double Team. Find it: it's great! (ok, keep your expectations low)



Despite all this though, his on-court production never changed, and even at an old age, he continued to hustle hard, defend hard, rebound hard, and win rings.



And now, here is perhaps the greatest part of the Rodman story: how he fought against all the odds to become what he did. Dennis Rodman was never supposed to be the greatest ever rebounder, never supposed to be a hall of famer. He suffered an unhappy childhood, struggled through poverty and tragedy, and somehow made the NBA despite having outstanding offensive skills, and even then was a rookie at the advanced age of 25. He kept persisting, kept improving, won the rings, the DPOY accolades, the rebounding titles, and became a part of one of the greatest teams ever. And by his last title, he was already 37 years old, still reading the NBA in boards!



I didn't know these things when I was 11, when I was falling in love with the art of the rebound, when someone called me a 'worm' and I failed to realise that it was a compliment and not an insult. I added several more arsenals to my game since then, but that love for the boards never changed, and neither did my respect for Dennis Rodman. What I see now is that, 'The Worm' stood for more than just the ability to get rebounds. 'The Worm' stood for perseverance, hustle, an undying love for the game.



His career, and his life, mirror his rebounding skill. Without having the size to do it, he had the uncanny skill to break the odds and position himself for success. He jumped higher than anyone else, even those bigger and more skilled than him, to either grab the ball, or tip it away, back to himself, just like in life, he was able to tip the favours towards himself, to grab the NBA's biggest challenges by its horns. And then he would secure the rebound, just like he would secure success, and then he would do it over and over again, becoming the best at one of the most beautiful arts in basketball.

Lithuania win gold at 2011 FIBA Men’s U19 World Championship

Lithuanian superstar and captain Jonas Valanciunas continued his dominant streak into the Final of the 2011 FIBA Men’s U19 World Championship to help his side secure the gold medal on Sunday night after defeating Serbia 85-67 at Riga, Latvia. This was Lithuania’s first gold medal at the event.

Lithuania went on an 18-3 run to end the third quarter which killed off the game. Valanciunas, who had been dominant throughout the tournament, finished with 36 points and 8 rebounds. The young star, who was the named the fifth pick at this year’s NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors, was named MVP of the tournament after leading all players in points (23.0), rebounds (13.9), and blocks (3.2).

Earlier in the day, Russia beat Argentina 77-72 to win the bronze medal.

All Tournament Team:

Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania)

Aleksander Cvetkovic (Serbia)

Dmitry Kulagin (Russia)

Hugh Greenwood (Australia)

Jeremy Lamb (USA)

Locked Out

A year ago today was one of my most optimistic days as an NBA fan. July 1, 2010, when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar'e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer, and a whole host of others became free agents. My favourite team, the New York Knicks, had the money to afford two of these guys, and although we were able to snag 'only' Amar'e to New York in the end, there was that exciting potential of this many talented guys shuffling things around a little.

That summer, which I previewed in my article on July 1, 2010: the 'Summer of 2010', turned out to be more explosive than expected, and taking the cue from July, every month of the NBA Calender there onwards, July 2010 - June 2011, became more and more exciting. LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade teamed up to make the most hyped/hated/talked-about 'SuperTeam' in Miami. The Knicks got Amar'e, and in a mid-season trade, got Carmelo Anthony, instantly bringing back excitement to New York. Boozer joined the Bulls, and became an important piece in their significant improvement last season to end up with the best regular season record in the NBA.

From then onwards, it was as if the NBA's wildest marketing fantasies came true, one after the other. All of the league's biggest markets - Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Chicago, and Boston became relevant. The NBA featured the perfect mix of old school stars (Garnett, Ray Allen, Kobe, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash), in-their-prime stars carrying the hype of the league (LeBron, Wade, Nowitzki, Kobe, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard), and great young stars looking primed to make sure that the NBA remains in good hands in the future (Durant, Rose, Griffin). Yes, I know I put Kobe in two lists up there, simply because he's old school and still a marquee name.

You know what else went right? Pretty much everything short of a dream Lakers-Heat Final. The All Star Game got great ratings, a home-team superstar performance by Kobe Bryant, and a grand show by Blake Griffin which included an over-the-car dunk. The playoffs were one of the most exciting ever, getting the fans to believe that the NBA is not as predictable as cynics say it is. And the Mavs winning out in the end was a karmic finish (for those who like things coming full circle and all that) for Nowitzki, a feel good win for team-oriented, "nice guy" play against the three-headed Rakshas over at Miami. Teamplay beat individual brilliance, and it seemed nearly the entire world (except for Heat fans) were happy about this.

Oh, and did I mention that the Finals ratings were amongst the highest in the decade? Did I mention that, despite a poor draft class, this year's draft got the highest TV rating ever? Despite a bad economy in the US, crowds still rushed to watch the NBA games.

I can keep going on: internationally, the league kept the fans on its toes and connected better than ever before. The NBA became the biggest sports league since the English Premier League. The NBA marketed itself brilliantly worldwide, and got all the positive responses.

Simply put: until yesterday, the league was officially in one of the best positions it has ever been, primed to have another legendary, hugely anticipated season.

That is just one way to look at it.

Because the undercurrents to this all was a serious, rising threat of an NBA lockout. No matter how much hype you saw around you, there was always a sobering article somewhere, reminding us that the CBA negotiations were not going well, that the two sides were far apart, that a lockout was near inevitable. I didn't believe it of course - I'm a damned optimist, and when I read anything that depresses me even a little bit, I can't pay attention to it. The words skim over my head and I quickly distract myself with something else.

Unfortunately, I can't distract myself any longer, nor can I ignore this reality. July 1, 2011, exactly a year after that summer of optimism, begins the summer of depression. The NBA announced that it will commence a lockout of its players, effective at 12:01 AM ET on July 1, 2011 until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).

What does this mean for us?

It means, possibly, maybe, no Summer League in July. Possibly No Pre-Season in October. Possibly no NBA Regular Season in November. And if things look really bad (they do), then say goodbye to any basketball until later next year.

HOLYZARKCHOOCOSUCRSLARTIBARTFASTMOHTHEFACKHIT!@!$#@#($#(Q$*Q#(

The word 'Lockout' brings out 2 memories to my mind. The first is from my favourite basketball related movie of all time, Space Jam, where the NBA had to lock-out the 1995 season because the aliens from Moron Mountain stole the talents of Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues and Shawn Bradley to beat Michael Jordan and the Loony Toons, aka the 'Toon Squad'.

The second memory is slightly more real, when the NBA locked-out FOR REAL after Michael Jordan retired (if you didn't know, MJ runs everything basketball. Now you know) in 1998. The 1998-99 season started a little late, and only two-thirds of the regular season was played. The playoffs included a dream run by the Knicks to become the first eighth-seeded team to make the Finals, which were eventually won by the Duncan/Robinson Spurs, and sparked the beginning of one of the most consistent teams in NBA basketball.

That 1998-99 season was the first real season that I closely followed NBA basketball. That was the season where I could call myself a real fan, not just a casual over-hearer of news. And of course, because of the Knicks' amazing run that year, that the the season that made me a fan of NYK.

For Knicks fans like me, it's been downhill ever since, all until, ironically, today, when the Knicks are relevant again, and we face yet another lockout. CRAP.

So as a fan, NBA basketball has come full circle, starting with the last lockout and peaking with this one, before it all comes crumbling down again. I blame everyone involved. I blame David Stern (NBA Commissioner) for not softening his approach to the players. I blame Billy Hunter (NBPA Executive Director) for not softening his approach to the owners. I blame the players for not accepting lesser money. I blame the owners (who say that 22 out of 30 NBA teams are losing money) for being greedy.

The reality is of course several times more complicated than my super-simplified version in the paragraph above. I actually feel that I'm disrespecting the complexity of the negotiations by that simplified above paragraph. But no matter how deep you go into the issues, it all comes back to the basic, painful truth: there might not be any NBA games in the recent future. Not David Stern, or Billy Hunter, or the Lakers' Derek Fisher (President, NBPA), or the owners, all the other millionaire men in shiny black suits, or and millionaire athletes in fresh NBA jerseys... The lockout will hurt someone else much, much more.

The fans.

For the fans, the formula is simple. You can't see your favourite teams and your favourite players perform at the highest level. Until things get figured out, there will be no more excitement of trades this offseason, no one checking to see if rookies are developing, no teams getting upgraded, no faces of NBA players on any NBA websites (this one hit me HARD - check out NBA.com).

And worst of all, there will be no NBA basketball.

Sniff.