Adam Silver, commissioner of the National Basketball Association, is bullish about the game becoming big in India.
Silver, who holds the most powerful job in the NBA, spoke to the Indian media contingent on the sidelines of a community event here.
Excerpts:
On LeBron James: He is a pleasure to watch and one of the greatest players. It is incredible how he has led the Cavaliers from the front this season.
The Indian market: It is critically important and incredibly exciting. We know we can’t compete with cricket, but we also know that more and more young people there are playing the game and tracking the games through our TV partner and the digital media.
In a market as large as India, there is plenty of room for other sports too. I’m fascinated with what’s happened with the IPL and the enormous amount of interest in its telecast.
So while cricket will remain by far the most popular sport, many young people will start playing basketball as well.
An Indian basketball league: It’s premature to say that we’ll have something similar to the NBA. But it’s something we’re looking at closely and I am sure that, over time, there will be a successful league in India.
The success of the kabaddi league: Its success is fascinating. Given how young the league is, it makes me more confident about the prospects about creating a basketball league in India.
