NBA 3x Tournament held at IIT Mumbai's Mood Indigo Festival

Mood Indigo is one of the largest of its kind festivals in Asia, held annually in December at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai. Last year, the 4-day festival attracted over 80,000 students from 600 colleges from across India.

This year, the NBA in India along with the NBA's official broadcaster in the nation - Sony SIX - are bringing a 3x3 basketball tournament at the Mood Indigo festival as well, which is being held in IIT-Mumbai from December 20-23, 2012. Players can register their squads on Mood Indigo's (uber-flashy) website. Each squad can have four members, three starters and a bench player.

The tournament is sure to follow the same format as the NBA 3x tournaments which have taken place across various cities in India already this year. Since this tournament is taking place at a big festival it will probably be televised on Sony SIX as well. It's all part of what SIX promised would be more localised NBA/basketball programming for the Indian audiences this year along with of course broadcasting live NBA games.

So if you're amongst the 80,000 heading over to the festival, don't forget to pack your shorts and sneakers too!

KFC 3x3 Challenge in Beijing

3x3 basketball - like it or not - is being sold aggressively, and a majority of different interested parties, from FIBA to the NBA to your neighbourhood tournament organisers, are hoping to see this format of the game grow. FIBA's dream is to see 3x3 Basketball become an Olympic sport by Rio 2016, and they've begun to hold FIBA 3x3 world championships in recent years. The NBA has gotten in the act by holding the NBA 3x tournament around the world, including the tournaments that were launched around India a few months ago.

It's a slightly different story in China - the world's largest population has been holding one of the largest basketball competitions in the planet for the past eight years, independently of FIBA or NBA's official participation. The KFC National Junior/Youth (U19) 3-Men Basketball Challenge was launched in 2004 in China, and this year, it has seen participation from nearly 200,000 young players from 500 Chinese cities! The quickfire format of 3x3 basketball is designed to increase participation, and there's no place that has mastered the art of involving it's massive population like China!

I was at hand on Saturday to watch some of the action of the Beijing City Finals of the 2012 version of KFC's national tournament. The tournament was being held at the national training facility of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) - who are part of the tournament's organisers - the same facility that is used for China's national teams for practice.

There was a major Jeremy Lin overdose at the event. Lin's visit to China in the summer opened up doors for a plethora of commercial possibilities. Lin is the official brand ambassador of the championship; his banners were draped all around the arena and they were TV commercials on the big screen of Lin (in very bad Chinese) inviting Chinese guys to play 3-on-3 with him.

The great thing is that the tournament is free for kids to register. Their objectives are simple: play basketball and eat KFC. Those last five words also sum up my life.

The one drawback: there is no equivalent competition for girls in the KFC 3x3 Challenge. It's an All-Boys championship nationwide. There could easily be another 200,000 if the scope of the championship is widened to involve girls, too.

Everyone who has plays basketball has played 3x3 basketball. That's a fact. But is the format of the game good enough to be taken seriously, to become an Olympic sport, or even a professional sport? Many suggest that 3x3 is good because it involves participation and also levels the competition a little bit. But it still feels like a less serious version of the game, and it involves and showcases fewer skills than 5-on-5 fullcourt, real basketball. In China, there are hundreds of thousands of youth who already swear by it. Time will tell how popular the organised version of 3x3 can get in the future around the world.

NBA 3x to be launched in Mumbai for the first time

NBA-India Press Release: The NBA will be hosting the inaugural NBA 3x in Mumbai on October 20-21 at the Inorbit Mall in Malad. The free interactive event will combine basketball and entertainment to bring an unprecedented NBA experience to fans in Mumbai.

NBA 3x will feature the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament ever staged in India with 400 teams expected to participate; performances from top musical artists and well-known DJs each day; and a variety of on and off the court activities for fans.

The 3-on-3 tournament will have two age divisions: 16-18 and 18-23. The winners in from the cities of Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai will be flown to Mumbai to compete in a National Championship on October 21. The national champions in each division will qualify to participate in a 2013 FIBA/NBA Asia 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

Two of India's top DJs - Clement and Ajit - will perform on October 20 while award winning singer Anushka Manchanda will be performing on October 21.

NBA 3x will bring authentic NBA-style entertainment to fans in India. Fans will participate in a variety of free contests and activities with the chance to win NBA merchandise. They can participate in basketball clinics, play NBA video games and measure themselves against cut-outs of NBA players. For a full event schedule, fans can visit NBA.com.

Sprite will send two participants from the national champion team in the 18-23 division to NBA All-Star Weekend 2013 in Houston. These two participants may get a chance to be part of the global pool of players from which NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will select to be part of the Sprite Team Sudden and Team Intense competition during NBA-All Star 2013. In addition, the first Sprite Basket Blast 2012 will take place in select cinemas across select cities in India from September through October.

Fans can purchase a Sprite Combo at participating cinemas to enter a lucky draw to get a chance to travel to NBA All-Star 2013. Four Winners will be selected and win trips to All-Star.

NBA Launches 1st ever 3x3 Tournament in India

NBA-India Press Release - The National Basketball Association (NBA) today launched the first-ever NBA 3x Presented By Sprite in India at The Great India Place Mall. The free interactive event combines basketball and entertainment to bring an unprecedented NBA experience to fans in Noida and Delhi. NBA 3x will be held in four cities from September 15-October 21. The event will visit Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Mumbai.

Seven-time NBA Champion Robert Horry and the Golden State Warriors dance team, the Warrior Girls, tipped off the event today. Horry played 16 seasons in the NBA for four teams. His seven championships are the most of any player not to have played on the 1960’s Boston Celtics.

The opening day also included a performance by hip hop and Bollywood artist Hard Kaur.

NBA 3x features the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament ever staged in India with 400 teams expected to participate; performances from top musical artists or well-known DJ each day; and a variety of on and off the court activities for fans.

The 3-on-3 tournament will have two age divisions: 16-18 and 18-23. The winners in each city will be flown to Mumbai to compete in a National Championship on October 21. The National Champions in each division will qualify to participate in a 2013 FIBA/NBA Asia 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

NBA 3x brings authentic NBA-style entertainment to fans in India. Fans will be able to participate in a variety of free contests and activities with the chance to win NBA merchandise. They can participate in basketball clinics, play NBA video games, measure themselves against cut-outs of NBA players. Fans present today also got a chance to interact with Horry and the Warrior Girls.

Supporting NBA 3x, Sprite will send two participants from the national champion team in the 18-23 division to NBA All-Star 2013. These two participants may get a chance to be part of the global pool of players from which NBA All-Stars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will select to be part of the Sprite Team Sudden and Team Intense competition during NBA-All Star 2013. In addition, the first Sprite Basket Blast 2012 will also be taking place in select cinemas across select cities in India from September through October.

Fans can purchase a Sprite Combo at participating cinemas to enter a lucky draw to get a chance to travel to NBA All-Star 2013. Four Winners will be selected and win trips to All-Star.

“We are excited to tip off NBA 3X presented by Sprite in Delhi with the help of seven-time NBA Champion Robert Horry. The event combines NBA-style entertainment, 3-on-3 basketball, and music to engage youth and build our fan base in India,” said NBA India Senior Director of Development Akash Jain. “This is the largest fan programme we have ever hosted in India and the wide range of basketball and lifestyle elements will provide memorable experiences for our fans.”

Here is the schedule for NBA 3x Presented By Sprite:

Schedule

• Delhi NCR: September 15-16
• Hyderabad: September 22-23
• Chennai: October 13-14
• Mumbai: October 20-21

Robert Horry is coming to India

If Robert Horry lands into India in mid-September wearing all of his championship rings, he could really leave our jyotishs in a tizzy. You know, those bogus astrologers who make people buy rings and gemstones for good luck? Well, Horry flipped the script on that theory. His good luck brought him the rings. The winner of 7 NBA championships will be the featured guest in the Delhi NCR region for the launch of the NBA 3x3 tournaments on September 15-16, 2012.

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