The NBA is paying a special tribute to the late Harish Sharma, the former secretary general and chief executive of Basketball Federation of India. Led by Troy Justice, director of operations, NBA India, it has refurbished the Mastan YMCA basketball courts at Nagpada. It would be renamed after Sharma.
Talking to DNA, Ibrahim Lakdawala, vice-president of Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA), said a three-day extravaganza has been scheduled from May 3 to 5. “The highlight of the opening is an all-star game. On its own, the NBA wanted to do something in Sharma’s memory. And because he was closely associated with the Mastan YMCA (Nagpada), the NBA decided to refurbish the surface here by constructing two new courts. The inauguration will be held on May 5. This will be followed by two All-Star matches that will feature India’s international players who played during Sharma’s time as BFI chief.”
While this is the third year in which Mastan YMCA will conduct an All-Star match, Lakdawala said there is a slight deviation from the routine. “Instead of having a mix of players from the current Indian team and national campers, we have invited senior players who played during Sharma’s time,” he said, adding efforts are also on to bring in at least four NBA stars from the US for the occasion.
The men’s All-Star match will include players like Sambaji Kadam, Riyazuddin while the women’s team will include Prashanti Singh, Akanksha Singh and Geetu Anna Jose among others.
The event has the blessings of the Basketball Federation of India as its current India players and campers would be participating in the event. The first day of the three-day affair will be a photo shoot of the All-Star players on May 3. On May 4, a three-point shooting and dunking competitions are scheduled.
Vice-president of BFI and secretary of the MSBA, M Venkatesh, said the all-star match is something similar to the NBA All-Star game in which the best players from East and West compete.
While this is the kind of start to the summer vacation, the local cagers can expect much more. Venkatesh said that the local clubs are waiting for the vacation to start to conduct various tournaments. Besides, the BFI will conduct the 39th national sub-junior championships in Goa from May 6 to 12 and the 63rd junior nationals will be held in Pondicherry from May 23 to 30.
