The NBA India basketball academy in Greater Noida was not unlike other venues in having to shut operations down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the grooming of young prospects hasn’t slowed significantly, with coaches and mentors keeping tabs on players’ progress.
That is according to Rajesh Sethi, the Managing Director of NBA India. “Our coaches and support staff are remotely monitoring the progress of the players, their fitness, nutrition,” Sethi said this week, via Sportstar. “Some of the students and staff are also conducting online sessions for the NBA basketball schools project.
“The coaches are also sharing drills for the players at home. Last month, one of our academy prospects Harsh Dagar made a hoop, using raw materials at home for practice, since he did not have access to any court near his home. Such instances give us pride and strengthen our commitment.”
NBA India has made lots of progress since getting off the ground in 2017 and 19-year-old Jagshaanbir Singh became the first Indian male to receive a basketball scholarship from an American college earlier this year, signing on with Point Park University.
Singh likely won’t be the last such regard; in the meantime, there are a few more developments Sethi can be proud of.
“Jaideep Rathore, Lokendra Singh and Jitendra Kumar Sharma were selected for the NBA Academy under-16 team,” he noted. “The 14 players from 12 countries had a 12-day camp and had sessions with top clubs in France and Hungary. They also got to watch the NBA Paris Game between Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets.”
The academy’s management is awaiting permission to reopen facilities and finish up the fifth season of the ACG-NBA Jump program to select a new group of players. There’s not much going on in terms of sports where India is concerned but there’s lots of action that could be had online, not least the kabaddi betting sites where odds are offered for a sport that’s becoming more and more popular.
The NBA will be back pretty soon too, with teams having headed to Orlando to complete the 2019/20 season, which is due to restart on July 30.
