![]() ![]() “Basketball has been played in China for over 100 years and basketball relatively speaking is relatively new to India. There is also some very big differences,” the NBA’s president of global operations and merchandising, Sal LaRocca, told Reuters. “There are a lot of similarities when we think about the opportunity in India and how we thought about China. In a sense the NBA returned home to its roots since the sport was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891.īut there are no such basketball bloodlines in China, now the NBA’s biggest foreign market, and even fewer ties to India, the cricket-crazed subcontinent that the league has targeted for its next growth spurt.ĭecades ago the NBA dispatched missionaries around the world to spread the basketball gospel with hopes of seeing the game one day rival soccer as the world’s most popular sport while making the NBA a flagship destination for players and fans.Īccording to the NBA, 300 million people play some form of organized basketball in China and the league has India’s 1.3 billion population in its crosshairs employing the same patient game plan to growing the sport from the grassroots up. It marked the first time the mid-season showcase had been held outside the United States yet could hardly be considered daring or groundbreaking with the NBA firmly entrenched in North America’s third biggest metropolis for over two decades. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports Toronto, Ontario, Canada Eastern Conference players stand at mid court during practice for the NBA All Star Game at Ricoh Coliseum.
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