India has great potential for basketball: Justice

[Sir john]

Troy Justice in Ludhiana. The next Magic Johnsons, AC Greens or Kareem Abdul-Jabbars can be produced by India as the country has mammoth scope and talent as well in basketball. This is what Troy Justice, director, basketball operations, India, National Basketball Association, believes. While talking to The Tribune’s Akash Ghai, Troy, who has been in the country for several years, is confident that the newly-launched league, Mahindra NBA Challenge Community Basketball League, will go a long way in producing and promoting the talent in near future. Q: How come the NBA has mulled over starting the league for amateur basketball players in the country? A: I have been in the country for past several years on the job. I observed that the game was popular here as many youngsters could be seen playing it in schools and centres. But here, India has tournament system, which is not sufficient to cater the talent and promote the game. So with the backing of Basketball Federation of India, we took our initial step by launching the league, firstly in three big basketball hubs, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Bangalore. Q: What are the major highlights of the league and what major changes it will bring in the game here? A: The league is especially designed for India and it is meant for budding amateur players, targeting the players of 14 to 17 years age group and 18 years and above section. In our next step we will include sub junior category in the league. Our objective as well as the main highlight of the league is to rope in more and more basketball players and provide the mammoth opportunities to showcase their talent and hone their skills. One can term it as a grass root and community-based league. Q: How do you find the initial response? A: Just overwhelming. You see over 120 teams were registered for the Ludhiana leg only. Here we have to shortlist the teams to the number of 80. Even a team from Jammu came to participate. The response was similar in Mumbai and Bangalore. In fact, the tremendous response in the first step has boosted our morale manifold. Q: How much funds does the NBA plans to spend on Indian players? A: For amateur players, our investment will be our expertise, time, quality training and special clinics for the players. For the funds, we have tied up with big companies here. On the suitable time, we will also start professional league here. Q: What are the biggest challenge you face here during your mission? A: Our mission is to make basketball the number two game after cricket in this country within five years. The biggest challenge in the way is infrastructure. You see, even in the city like Mumbai, there is no indoor basketball court. Q: You have been to China for the same purpose, what you find the major difference between the two top Asian countries? A: Again infrastructure. We (the NBA) have spent almost 20 years in China so far. There they have developed the required infrastructure very rapidly and the result is in front of everyone.