MUMBAI: In the build-up to India hosting NBA games for the first time ever, former Women’s NBA (WNBA) player Ebony Hoffman tipped off a grassroots programme in Mumbai. Having observed the state of basketball in the country, the 37-year-old forward asserts that the country’s basketball setup has been lacking the knowledge needed for it to grow into a stronger culture.
“I don’t know what’s missing (in the coaching program), I think it’s just what they don’t know. You don’t know what you don’t know, so how can you teach what you don’t know? That’s what we’re here to bring,” she says. “We’re here to tell them that we’re going to give you the skills, the curriculum and just be encouraging. Basketball is not mistake-free, there’s no perfect game. Even if you made 100 per cent of your shots, you still did something wrong. But I think India is going to have an NBA player soon, they’re on the verge.”
Hoffman, who has played for the likes of Indiana Fever, Los Angeles Sparks, Connecticut Sun, and has even spent time playing in Turkey for Fenerbahce and Besiktas, further asserted that the NBA India games, to be played between the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers in the coming week, will give basketball aficionados in India a glimpse of the sport much different from what is experienced on television.
“We’ve got two great teams that are coming for these games,” she says. “The Sacramento Kings have a very young but athletic group of kids that you will see. You’ll see all type of dunks and all type of moves. Then you have the older Indiana Pacers who have Miles Turner and Victor Oladipo. You’re going to see a wider range of talent that you’ve never seen live before. It’s a lot different seeing it in person than it is on the television screens. I’m excited for all of India to see that in person and to embrace that.
“The Pacers are a great young team. They have a great star, Oladipo, who is very hard to guard. Turner is a monster at the post. Then in Sacramento, you’ve got a great point guard (De’Aaron Fox) who is changing the game. You’ve got a great post player who’s flying high,” she adds.
The Kings notably have an India-connect in the form of the owner Vivek Ranadive, who was born in Mumbai but later immigrated to the US.