NBA players Robin Lopez and Seth Curry heading to India next week!

Indian mascots beware! And for the rest of us, it's time to bust out those umbrellas because it's about to start splashing real soon.

Photo credit: FollowYourSport.com

Two NBA players who have carved a place for themselves in the league in wildly different ways will come together for one singular cause: promoting basketball in India. Center Robin Lopez of the New York Knicks and guard Seth Curry of the Sacramento Kings will travel to Noida and Mumbai from April 28 - May 1 to support the continued growth of basketball by conducting youth clinics and interacting with local fans.

Curry and Lopez will make their first stop in Noida on 29 April to engage with players at the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA Elite National Camp. From Noida, the pair will then travel to Mumbai on 1 May for a live television appearance on Sony SIX’s NBA morning show "Around the Hoop."

"I understand the game of basketball continues to grow in India," said Curry. "I look forward to experiencing the Indian culture and encouraging the kids to lead an active lifestyle through basketball."

"I can’t wait to visit India for the first time," said Lopez. "This is a great opportunity to share my knowledge of the game with the local youth and interact with fans."

The 7-footer Lopez was drafted in 2008 by the Phoenix Suns and has since also played with the New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, and is currently a starter now on my favourite team, the New York Knicks. Lopez is the only active Knick to ever visit India, which makes this trip extra special for me. Apart from being known for his defense and rebounding, Lopez is also a well-known menace to the NBA's mascot community.

Seth Curry was undrafted in 2013 and bounced between the NBA and the D-League for the next two years, playing sparingly for the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Phoenix Suns. Finally, however, Curry seems to have found his footing with the Sacramento Kings - a team owned by Indian tech billionaire Vivek Ranadive - for whom he started several games during the 2015-16 season. Like his older brother Stephen, Seth Curry is also known to be an excellent long-range shooting threat.

Both these players are famously known for their star siblings in the NBA. Robin's twin brother Brook Lopez plays for the Nets and was an All Star in 2013.

Seth's big brother Steph is... well, you know who Steph Curry is, right? MVP? Soon to be back-to-back MVP? Greatest shooter ever? Champion? 73 wins? This shot (and 401 others like this over the course of the season)? Probably the most popular player in the league right now. Riley's Dad. Ya, that guy. I'm sure it's a gift and a curse to be a member of the NBA's Most Famous Family right now. But Seth Curry is a deserving NBA player in his own right. Hopefully, the media in India will respect him for his own achievements in their questioning instead of only asking him about his brother (but I doubt it).

I'm looking forward to Lopez - a famously fan-friendly personality - engaging with fans and immersing himself in Indian culture. I'm looking forward to Seth Curry trying some real Indian curry, and hopefully convincing Steph to follow on his footsteps to India, too. But most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing the two players impart their wisdom on young Indian talents at the Reliance Foundation camp.

The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA Elite National Camp will be conducted at Jaypee Greens Sports Facility in Noida 28 April to 1 May. The camp will feature the top 12 youth from each state/city in which the program took place, including Punjab, Kerala, Kolkata, Chennai, NCR, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur and Mumbai.