BENGALURU: City hoopster Achintya Krishna hardly got much time to spend with his parents in Bengaluru after he was selected for NBA Academy India in 2017. His stay was limited to a few days during Deepavali and Christmas, and a bit more in the summer. He has been spending most of his time at the academy in Greater Noida.
However, the prevailing COVID-19 situation has forced him to stay indoors at his Bengaluru residence for over a month now. Had it not been for the pandemic, the 17-year-old would have been at the academy, sharpening his skills.
“I usually never come home for this long. I come for four days during Deepavali, and spend 15 days during Christmas and a month in summer. But now I am spending some good time with my parents,” said Achintya.
Though he is with his family at this hour, he is by no means a free bird. Achintya, who came back to the city after appearing for his Class 11 exams in Jaypee Public School in Noida, is paying attention to fitness.
There is a WhatsApp group that includes players from the academy, wherein the coaches have been sharing plans to help them maintain their fitness. The youngster is also learning to play the Ukulele, a musical instrument, when he has time.
He dedicates a good amount of his time to books too, for a good reason. Achintya is preparing for SAT exams, which were originally scheduled to take place in May. He is keen to crack it as it will open doors for him to universities in the USA.
“It has been postponed. The new dates have not come out officially. I am eager to get a high score in SAT since I want to get admission in a university in the US and play basketball there, and get a good degree from an esteemed college. The quality of competitions is very high there. If you can play against better players every day, then you will definitely improve,” said Achintya.
The player has been earning quite a name for himself. He has represented India at the U-16 SABA Basketball Championship and NBA Academy India in the European Youth Basketball League. Recently, he spoke to the kids who are part of the NBA Basketball School Programme online sessions, via a group video chat.
NBA has decided to introduce curriculum-based online basketball sessions during the lockdown. "It was a good feeling for me to share my experience, like how I was before I got into the academy, training and all. With the help of such activities, the kids at these schools will be able to see us, and learn what we did to get into the academy. Everybody was very enthusiastic about it, eager to learn and know what it takes to make it to the academy,” Achintya added.