New Delhi, May 8: He is well aware that cricket is India’s “number one sport” but NBA great Vlade Divac is nonetheless hopeful that basketball too will find its space in the country.
The 7’1″ tall Sacramento Kings great was at the American Centre here on Friday for some dribbling and passing with over 100 children from various schools and academies in the national capital.
“I have to tell you, I am surprised, (the kids) they are pretty good,” he said after the ‘Freedom 250 Slam Dunk Experience’ event organised by the US Embassy and Sacramento Kings.
Divac stood next to the makeshift hoop set up on the front lawns of the American Centre and encouraged the young aspirants with a warm smile and some high fives as they queued up to take a shot at the basket for an appreciative glance from the 58-year-old legend.
The owner of two Olympic silver medals (1988 and 1996) and two world championship golds (1990 and 2002) was generous in his support, even lifting one kid to help him complete his attempt.
“I was very impressed with the girls, they were good at shooting the ball. It’s a big country and a lot of kids around. India should be a power in the world if they do the right thing.
“NBA is a global brand and in future, we can have some NBA players from India,” said the former player, who has also dabbled in administration besides engaging in humanitarian work for homeless refugees in Africa and his native Serbia.
India has had presence in the NBA in the past when Canada-born Sim Bhullar became the first player of Indian descent to sign up for the league in 2015. Incidentally, it was Sacramento Kings who pencilled him in with Divac as the team’s Vice President of Basketball Operations at that time.
Bhullar didn’t play much during that stint and moved back to Canada before trying his hand in the leagues of China and Taiwan.
Satnam Singh became the first Indian to feature in the NBA, also in 2015 when he was signed up by Dallas Mavericks. He eventually bid adieu to the game and became a professional wrestler in the USA.
Both Bhullar and Satnam Singh were an inch or two taller than the imposing Divac, who is hopeful of seeing more Indian talent doing well internationally.
“India is a great big country with beautiful people. And we would love to help them develop kids for basketball. I know they love different sports, number one obviously is cricket and they should always do love that sport because it’s the national sport,” he said, mistaking cricket’s well-documented popularity in India with the status of national sport that it does not have.
Divac’s understanding of India’s sporting preferences perhaps stems from a past visit here for an exhibition match for the Kings.
“It’s been many many years since I travelled around the world promoting NBA because basketball is a sport that brings people together. In 2018, I came here with the Sacramento Kings to play an exhibition game in Mumbai because our owner Vivek Ranadive is a native from Mumbai,” he said.
Ranadive is the founder of two US-based software companies — TIBCO and Teknekron.
Divac, who was the first European player to create a buzz in the NBA when first drafted in by Los Angeles Lakers for the 1989 season, headed the Serbian Olympic Committee from 2009 to 2017 after completing his playing career. He said he is a living example of the power of sport in changing lives.
“I was born in Yugoslavia, which is today’s Serbia. When I was 21, I moved to the United States to play basketball and in today’s game, more than 30 per cent players are international players.
“Basketball brings people together. I remember when we had conflict in my country, the NBA created ‘Basketball Without Borders’ which brought kids together. And that’s what it’s about, bring kids together.” (PTI)
