Sponsorship, resources, interest – the NBA has most things right on paper to give basketball a much-needed spur in India. However, what it desperately seeks is that one guy bursting out of the system, breaking into the league and basing himself there for a considerable period of time.
Former NBA player Kevin Martin, who is in India to interact and train some budding cagers in Mumbai and Noida including in The NBA Academy India, believes it is the only thing missing in India's basketball jigsaw puzzle.
And, he's optimistic of it getting solved sooner rather than later.
"It always takes that one guy," Martin, who was part of the league from 2004-2016, said. "Even in the US, it started with somebody like Bill Russell all the way back. Then with my generation growing up, it was Michael Jordan and now it's LeBron (James) and Steph Curry.
"So, there's always going to be that one guy that affects all generations. And I'm pretty confident that there's that one guy here in India who will one day be a first-round pick, hang around in the NBA and make a difference," he added.
The 34-year-old Ohio-born shooting guard, on his first visit to India, said the country's basketball scene reminds him a lot of China.
"There's a lot of potential to tap in India. There's an outstanding culture for basketball here. It kind of reminds me of China, and what Yao Ming did to basketball there.
"NBA, over the past five years, is doing in India what it did in China before that. And the result of that was that it gave China one of their biggest sporting figures," Martin said.
India are still far from celebrating their Yao Ming, and even the little sparks that have generated over the past few years have fizzled out in the NBA, Satnam Singh being the biggest case in point.
Martin, who plied his trade for five clubs over his 12-year career, said it is not easy even for an American to sustain himself in the league, let alone an aspiring Indian.
"To actually make it to the NBA in itself is a big accomplishment. If you look at my journey, I was never supposed to be in the NBA. Somebody like me coming from a small town, up against all odds. Just like some kids are over here.
"But I'm very encouraged with what I'm seeing in India. The more you can have kids being aspired, the brighter the future for India in the NBA," Martin said.
KNOW MARTIN
Full name: Kevin Martin
Born: February 1, 1983; Zanesville, Ohio
Playing career: 2004–2016
Position: Shooting guard
NBA clubs: Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs
