IMG/India Team Up To Create Pro Basketball League
Posted by Jerseychaser54 on
August 19, 2010
Having spent a considerable amount of time in the Middle East for over 5 years, I saw the talent and potential to develop quality basketball players. Countries like Qatar, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan and Syria have a solid basketball foundation, and are capably managed professional leagues. The biggest issues were facilities, organization and financial stability.
They needed one of the big boys to come in and build their brand.
That’s why it comes as a surprise to hear that IMG/Reliance are teaming up to develop basketball infrastructure in India, from grassroots to the professional level. It is a monumental deal for the country of India, now the envy of the region. With the NBA’s backing India could be a basketball hot-spot in the Middle East….
With Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard spending time there this summer, the NBA has shown it’s seriousness about cultivating a fertile economic base, with over 1 billion people in the country. The new Indian Pro League run by IMG will be professionally run, tremendously resourced and which is 90% of the battle in the Middle East brand of basketball.
I’d like to see IMG develop a presence throughout the Middle East and especially western Africa.
My biggest questions are that young Indian youth won’t spend as much time on the court, as they do the pitch or the cricket field. Both soccer and Cricket are huge sports in India, and are deeply embedded in that countries culture. With first rate facilities, equipment and skill development though, the interest in one of the world’s most popular sports may explode.
10 years ago I never would have thought Bollywood would be part of american cinematic culture and you saw how Slumdog Millionaire did. Perhaps IMG/Reliance sees what’s going on in China and thinks it can do the same to India.
Time will tell.
