For NBA teams, India was January’s Flavour of the Month

This feature was originally published in my column for Ekalavyas.com on February 6, 2016. You can find the original article here.

As of a 2013 census, persons of Indian origin make up just about one percent of the entire US population. But even though their percentage is small, there are still over 3.1 million Indian Americans. More crucially, despite being a small fraction of the overall population, Indians have managed to make their influence count: from taking a deeper role in developing their culture and expertise in North America, to evoking the foundation of their roots back in India. Now, that culture is spreading to the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The NBA has long been a progressive basketball league, accepting people of different cultures, races, nationalities, sexual preferences, and genders into their extended family. For years, various NBA teams, and the league itself, has held fan outreach or heritage nights to specific target fanbases, like the Noche Latina or Chinese New Year celebrations.

With little influence around the league in the past, however, it took some time for Indians to join the party. But over the last few years, that party is finally here, and Indian heritage is starting to be celebrated with more fervour in the NBA than ever before.

In January 2016, three NBA teams continued their tradition of hosting India-related heritage nights during home games: the Sacramento Kings, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Orlando Magic. In the larger scheme of NBA events, the impact of these themed-nights was small. But to the Indian diaspora in the US and the rapidly rising NBA-watching audience in India, the ‘India Nights’ were another nod by the NBA of its growing interest in Indians, both home and abroad.

Most ‘India Nights’ around the NBA follow similar themes, themes that often overplay Indian stereotypes and caricatures around the world. You want dancing? Get some cheerleaders in saris and play ‘Jai Ho!’ You want snacks? Nothing better than kebabs and curries in the concession stands. India is synonymous with colour to the West, and often, NBA arenas get decorated in a wonderful myriad to challenge a Holi celebration. Special T-shirts and memorabilia are worn by players or passed out to fans. Words like ‘Bollywood’, ‘desi’, ‘flavour’ and ‘colour’ are thrown about a lot. Indian or Indian-origin celebrities are honoured, and Indian or Indian-origin singers and dancers perform for the fans.

With every year, the spectacle is gaining more momentum, and the rise of competing ‘India Nights’ is adding that ‘flavour’ across the NBA.

Vivek Ranadive is the first Indian-born majority-owner of an NBA team, but before he made history by owning the Sacramento Kings, Ranadive briefly held a minority stake with the Golden State Warriors. Under Ranadive’s vice-chairmanship, the Warriors began a tradition of holding ‘Bollywood Night’ at their games. From the very first time in 2011, the Warriors introduced the epic ‘got Curry?’ T-shirts in honour of their young point guard Stephen Curry. Four years later, Ranadive had jumped shipped to head out to Sacramento, the Warriors had become the NBA best team, and Curry the league’s best player. But Bollywood Nights have continued in the Bay Area, and this year’s event is scheduled to be held on March 9 when the Warriors host the Utah Jazz.

When Ranadive came to Sacramento with dreams of NBA 3.0 and of making the Kings ‘India’s team’, he brought ‘Bollywood Night’ over with him. Over the last few years, this event in Sacramento has grown from strength to strength. The Kings’ players wear practice T-shirts with Devanagari script, the Sleep Train Arena gets decorated in style, Indian cuisine is on offer, and fans enjoy song-and-dance routines by Indian artists. Ranadive’s daughter Anjali, an aspiring pop-star, has also become a regular feature for halftime performances on Bollywood Nights.

When the 2016 Bollywood Night was held on January 7th, it also featured Indian-origin Miss America Nina Davulari, an announcement of the Kings’ players in Hindi, and a scintillating introduction video to reach out to fans from Mumbai to Sacramento. The Kings Dancers also dressed up in Indian garb on the night, as was Slamson the Lion, the Kings’ official mascot. Other events included Punjabi sword fighting and dance performances by the California-based Ankhiley Gabroo dance group. Sacramento native and artist Pam Shankar, of Indo-Fijian descent, sang the pre-game national anthem. The home team played the Los Angeles Lakers that night in Kobe Bryant’s last game in Sacramento and eked out a close win.

A few weeks later, Philadelphia scratched their Indian itch, too. On January 18th, the 76ers held their second annual Indian-American Heritage Night. Before the game, the Indian community and the 76ers honoured Indian Americans in Sports at the Wells Fargo Center, notably, Kevin Negandhi, an anchor for ESPN SportsCenter in the USA and Crossover Basketball and Scholars Academy, a non-profit who have been coming to Chennai for several years to promote education and values through basketball among children from lower-economic households. The event featured Bollywood music bumping outside the entrances to the court, cultural exhibits around the arena, special Indian themed 76ers T-shirts provided to the guests, and a performance by Philadelphia-based dance company Aatma. The 76ers played their best game of the season to blow out the Portland Trail Blazers.

Not to be outdone, the Orlando Magic – title holders of the Best Heritage Night in the NBA for the past two years – brought back ‘India Day’ (as declared by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer) to Downtown Orlando on January 31st, in an event organized by the Indian American Chamber of Commerce (IACC). The IACC hosted Bollywood superstar Madhuri Dixit this year. A Cultural Street Fest was held pregame in front of the Amway Center, showcasing Indian dancing from various local Indian organizations. Guests enjoyed henna tattoos, sari wrapping, turban tying, free t-shirts and more. Halftime entertainment was provided by the Bollywood Dance Academy. The Orlando Magic snapped eight-game losing streak at the game with a 119-114 win over the Boston Celtics.

All of the events above have been covered by local South Asian-centric media, making more and more members of the Indian community aware of the NBA and of the league’s clout. Furthermore, the average NBA fan at these games is finding awareness about Indian culture: it may be just a Western, ‘whitewashed’ view of India, but it’s a start.

The growing attention to India and Indians has come at a strategic time for the NBA teams; the NBA office in India continues to grow its list of both grassroots and mainstream events around the country. More Indian fans are watching live NBA games on TV than ever before, and the future promises wider availability of NBA merchandise in big Indian cities.

Meanwhile, a couple of giant Indian men are becoming role models for South Asians in the US. Last year, Ranadive’s Kings made Canadian Sim Bhullar the first person of Indian-origin to play in the NBA. A few months later, the Dallas Mavericks drafted Satnam Singh, making him the first Indian national to be drafted into the league. Both the seven-footed giants are currently playing in the D-League – Raptors 905 and Texas Legends respectively – and are on the periphery of a potential NBA call-up. Their presence would add a little more of that much-clichéd desi flavour to the NBA.

It’s a win-win relationship for NBA teams to invest in their heritage ‘India Nights’, but the biggest reason to do so may be far simpler: about winning on the basketball court itself. All three NBA teams that held Indian heritage nights in January held a losing record and were outside the playoff race. And yet, all three teams picked up exciting or impressive wins that night. Coincidence, or is evoking India bringing NBA host teams a dose of good luck on their kundlis?

And speaking of good kundlis, you know which NBA team has the brightest fortune of them all? Which team is currently the reigning NBA champion, are leading the league standings after a historically good start, are on pace to have the greatest regular season of All Time, are favourites to repeat as champions, feature the league MVP, and have become the greatest show in basketball? It’s the Golden State Warriors, the team who got properly on the Bollywood bandwagon before anyone else.

Got Curry?

Sacramento Kings pull out the stops for India - and stop Kobe - on Bollywood Night 2016

अपने पैरों पे खड़॓ होना मुंबई से सेक्रामेन्तो तक.

The players rocking the #DesiKings Tees making entrance to the field! @nbaindia Courtesy: @luxme06 @blacksheep217 #DMC #McBen #RudyGay #KingsForIndia #KingsBollywoodNight #INDtoSAC #instaparty

A photo posted by Ekalavyas (@ekalavyas) on Jan 7, 2016 at 9:15pm PST

(Get on your feet, from Mumbai to Sacramento).

And with that energizing message, the Sacramento Kings launched their ode to the Indian community in the USA and back in India - their third annual Bollywood Night - during their game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, January 7 2016 at the Sleep Train Arena. Led by Vivek Ranadive, the first Indian-born majority-owner of an NBA team, the Kings made this year's Bollywood Night bigger than ever before. As a special bonus, they won a thrilling game, too, holding off former rival Kobe Bryant in his last professional game in Sacramento.

Ranadive, tech billionaire, bought the franchise in the summer of 2013 and has since taken several efforts to further the relationship between the Kings and India, between Sacramento and his birthplace Mumbai. This year was the third consecutive season that the Kings hosted a Bollywood themed night, after its previous two editions in front of sell-out crowds. The night included India-inspired fabrics and decor, cuisine, Bollywood-themed fan giveaways for those in attendance, and performances from leading Indian-American entertainers and celebrities.

Tapping into the global appeal of Bollywood on the décor and merchandising front, the night witnessed colourful fabric sheets hung from the catwalks over the bowl, rally towels on seats for all fans, Indian cuisine, Bollywood scarves and t-shirts in the team store, mehendi for fans, and warm-up shirts for the Kings’ players.

The first Miss America of Indian-descent – Nina Davuluri – joined the Sacramento Kings Dancers for a special Bollywood-themed dance routine. Davuluri was interviewed by Kings.com about Bollywood Night before tip-off. The Kings Dancers also dressed up in Indian garb on the night, as was Slamson the Lion, the Kings' official mascot. The starting line-ups for the Kings and the Lakers were introduced by a special guest announcer in Hindi. The Kings also showed a special introduction video before tip off - from Mumbai to Sacramento.



Ranadive's daughter, the aspiring pop-star Anjali World, performed at halftime, along with rapper 6speed. Other events included Punjabi sword fighting and dance performances by the California-based Ankhiley Gabroo dance group. Sacramento native and artist Pam Shankar, of Indo-Fijian descent, sang the pre-game national anthem.

The game itself was a perfect Bollywood movie plot for the hometown team. The first half was lighthearted and jovial, with the home-team taking a 27 point lead behind an incredible performance by their hero DeMarcus Cousins (29 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) overcoming a strong performance by their arch-nemesis Kobe Bryant (28 points). But no Bollywood film is complete without conflict, and the Lakers made a heroically cinematic comeback in the fourth quarter to take the lead behind strong performances by guards D'Angelo Russell (27) and Jordan Clarkson. Eventually, the Kings were able to withstand the blow and give the home fans a happy ending with a 118-115 win.

After years of memorable playoff battles between the Lakers and the Kings in the early 2000s, this was Bryant's final game in Sacramento. The home crowd got a victory, but as the credits rolled in the end of the Bollywood bonanza, Bryant got a loud ovation from their rival fans. Bollywood Night was over, the respected villain lost, and the heroes notched up another win to get closer to an unlikely playoff spot!

Vivek Ranadive and Adam Silver to visit India this December

Vivek Ranadive is a Mumbai boy. He was born and bred in India's largest city before he headed West to study at some of the world's finest educational institutions, launch a billion-dollar software company, write a few books, and eventually, become the first-ever Indian-born owner of an NBA franchise when he secured the majority shares of the Sacramento Kings.

From holding Indian culture nights in Sacramento to signing the NBA's first player of Indian-descent, Ranadive has taken the lead in bringing the NBA closer to the Indian community. But ever since becoming the Kings' owner about 15 months ago, he hadn't yet taken a trip back to the country of his birth in an official capacity.

As the Grand Marshal of the India Day Parade in New York City yesterday, Ranadive announced that he will make that official visit to India this December. And he won't be alone - Ranadive also mentioned that he will be bringing along the NBA's new commissioner Adam Silver, too for the league's head honcho's first-ever trip to India.

The last time an active NBA commissioner visited India was when David Stern headed to Mumbai in summer 2013 to launch an NBA Cares programme. Relative to Stern's other global itineraries over his 30 years as the commish, it was surprising that saved India for so late in his tenure.

Silver, on the other hand, took over the NBA at an opportune time for the league's relations with India. Ranadive, who was previously a minority owner of the Golden State Warriors, broke into the scene in Sacramento and has since aggressively promoted 'Indianness' in the NBA. And the NBA's presence through TV broadcasts, social media, grassroots events, and in-person visits continued have also been steady rise in India. It makes perfect sense that Silver's first introduction to India be led by the man who can smoothly bridge the gap between the traffic jams of Mumbai and hard-maple court surfaces in Sacramento: Ranadive.

When he made this announcement, Ranadive was leading the India Day Parade in New York along with Sim Bhullar, the 7-foot-5 Indo-Canadian who was made the first player of Indian-descent to be signed into the NBA by the Kings just days ago. It is unclear whether Bhullar will still be a part of the Kings come December - he could be cut if he doesn't perform well at training camp in a couple of months or demoted to the Kings' D-League affiliate Reno Bighorns. Either way, it is unlikely that Bhullar himself will have time in his playing schedule to join Silver and Ranadive in India in December - and for fans rooting for him to have a bigger role in the NBA, the busier he is, the better.

Although neither of them are 7-foot-5 behemoths, Ranadive and Silver are metaphorically 'big' enough to draw considerable interest from the Indian mainstream media when they do visit. For Ranadive, this trip will mark his first official opportunity to speak out to Indians directly and up-close about the Kings and the NBA. For Silver, we hope that the visit is the first of many of the NBA's growing interest in India.

Sacramento Kings to host Bollywood Night with cultural performances, Hindi shirts, and more

Before Vivek Ranadive became the first Indian-born person to have majority ownership of an NBA team with the Sacramento Kings, he was the first Indian to be a minority owner, with the Golden State Warriors. Ranadive's impact for the Warriors was relatively little, but he did introduce the first iterations of 'Bollywood Night', where the team celebrated Ranadive's Indian culture through music, food, and other events during one home game every season.

Now that Ranadive has taken control of the Kings and reached out to the Indian community near and far more than ever, it was only a matter of time before the 'Bollywood Night' fever hit Sacramento as well.

In their home game against the Lakers on Wednesday, April 2nd, the Kings' Sleep Train Arena will host their first-ever Bollywood Night. According to an official release from the team, this Kings-Lakers game will also celebrate Indian culture and cinema with various performances. The game will also be broadcast live in India on the morning of April 3rd from 7:30 AM.

All attendees to the game in Sacramento will be given commemorative 'Bollywood Night' shirts in various colours. Most exciting of all, the Kings' players will be wearing warm-up shirts with the words 'Kings' inscribed in Hindi - किंग्स - (I WANT ONE!!!!). At halftime, Anjali Ranadive - the daughter of Vivek - will give a pop/Bollywood fusion performance. Other dance performances will include UC Davis student groups LashKara, Sunatya, and the Kings' cheerleaders in Indian garb.

"The ultimate power of sports is the ability to connect people across geographic, economic and cultural lines," said Ranadivé. "The Kings strive every day to provide all of our fans with a unique and lasting experience, which is why we have such strong support from the Indian community here and abroad. Together, we are catapulting basketball as the fastest growing sport in India. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and I also have plans to visit, and we hope to continue sharing the Kings experience throughout India."

These are exciting times to be an Indian NBA fan. With Ranadive at the helm of an NBA franchise, the attention has clearly been shifted to further interaction and involvement of India and Indian culture into the NBA. Ranadive has been hailed as one of the saviour for the Kings in Sacramento; now, his ambitions are to be the man who helps create a market for the game of basketball in India.

As for the Kings' fortunes on court... Well, let's just say that there is always next season. The Lakers-Kings game may be sprinkled with a lot of Indian masala on Bollywood Night, but take a look at their respective records and you find two teams that have only one a combined 51 games this season. The good news it that, with the personalities in Sacramento (the only and only BOOGIE!) and the up-tempo game at the Lakers play, we can be assured that, even though the final result will matter little except in determining lottery chances, the game will be far from boring.

And if the Kings are able to continue their off-court hot streak and the lottery favours them, the injection of a young talent next season might finally see them match their hype towards the Indian fan with real success and results.

Sacramento Kings sign partnership with Indian company Krrish Group & Jimboy's Tacos

NBA, India, and Tacos.

So get your head around this announcement. Sacramento Kings - the first NBA team owned by an Indian-born (Vivek Ranadive) - have signed a deal with Indian real-estate company the Krrish Group and Sacramento-based Mexican food chain, Jimboy's Tacos. The Krrish Group will open multiple franchises of Jimboy's Tacos in India. And the Kings will promote this relationship through in-arena, broadcast, and digital advertising. Win, win, win?

So here are the points of interest:

- Ranadive has made his intentions very clear in the past to expand the Kings' business relationships with India, and on the Kings' opening night this season, displayed a bonanza of Shaq-cricketing, cheerleader-Bollywooding, and curry concession-eating action. But this is their first official business partnership with an Indian company. "I am thrilled that The Krrish Group shares our global vision and sees the economic potential of a partnership with the Kings," said Ranadive. "Given the increasing popularity of basketball and the Kings in India, we hope that this will be the first of many important business partnerships from the region. As we strive to become India's home team, we are proud to call The Krrish Group and Jimboy’s Tacos our partners."

- The Kings aren't finished. The press release for this news made it clear that they'll be announcing several more business partnerships with India next season.

- Jimboy's Tacos who? The relatively small taco company might be known in certain parts of Sacramento, but none of my Southern California brethren had ever heard of them. Still, their website promises that they were voted "Best Taco" by Sacramento Magazine.

- No Del Taco, no El Pollo Loco, no Loteria. Even Taco Bell only has two outlets in India (I think), both in Bangalore. Jimboy's are somehow going to become the biggest American franchise of Mexican food in India. Vivek Ranadive is a valuable friend. "We are excited to be part of Vivek (Ranadive]'s 3.0 initiative as we begin our national and international expansion," said Karen Knudson Freeman, CEO of Jimboy’s Tacos.

- Who are the Krrish Group, apart from being a company named after a horrible Bollywood superhero franchise? They are a real-estate company, originally founded in 1983 as a liquor manufacturers. They are dynamic real-estate players in the Delhi-NCR region, are building skyscrapers in Sri Lanka, and own a team in India's badminton league.

- "The Indian consumer and retail market has literally been exploding during the last 10 years and the trend is projected to continue for many years to come, with the restaurant sector projected to grow more than double in the next 5 years," said Prakhar Gupta, Vice President of Business Development for The Krrish Group. "With a dynamic and fast growing business portfolio, we see our partnership with Jimboy’s and the Kings as a perfect opportunity."

Since purchasing the Kings earlier this year, Ranadive has directed a business philosophy coined "NBA 3.0," which focuses on investments in technology, globalization and deep community partnerships.

This is just the first step. Both Sacramento Kings fans and Indians should start getting more familiar with each other: there's going to be a lot more force-fed into this unlikely relationship in the coming years.

Speaking of force-feeding, DeMarcus Cousins must be really looking forward to this. Something tells me that he would be the perfect brand ambassador for all types of tacos.

Sacramento's King: Vivek Ranadivé becomes NBA's first Indian-born majority owner

He was born in Juhu, Mumbai.

He has a bachelor's degree from Harvard and a master's from MIT.

He had 50 dollars in his pocket when he moved to the USA in the 70s, and worked his way to turning that into a billion dollar software company, TIBCO.

He is a Tae Kwon Do Black Belt, and a sports buff who used to coach his daughter's basketball team.

He has written three best-selling books.

He became the first Indian to own a share of an NBA franchise, when he was with the Golden State Warriors.

And about a week ago, Vivek Ranadivé became the first-ever Indian-born majority owner when a group led by him bought the Kings, saved them from a move to Seattle, and kept them in Sacramento.

For the 55-year-old who has already shook the world, it seems that the journey has only just begun.

Until about two months ago, the fate of the Sacramento Kings seemed to be all but decided. The franchise was suffering a terrible loss: the team was playing losing basketball on court had amongst the NBA's worst attendances. All this, after being only a decade removed from being one of the league's loudest and most imposing home courts in the successful Chris Webber era. A sale to the tech-inspired group from Seattle, led by Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer and Chris Hansen, seemed inevitable, and Sacramento's loss was reading like Seattle's gain, who were eager to welcome back the Supersonics.

Enter Ranadivé. A minority-owner with the Warriors, Ranadivé joined a team led by health-club financier Mark Mastrov and billionaire Ron Burkle to bid for the Kings and help keep them in Sacramento. Ranadivé emerged as the leader of this group, which by the end included the Jacobs family from San Diego, another Indian-born businessman Raj Bhathal, Australian Silicon Valley entrepreneur Katrina Garnett, Mastrov, Sacramento developer Mark Friedman, attorney and former Facebook executive Chris Kelly, San Francisco tech entrepreneur Andy Miller and Arjun Gupta, a third-Indian and founder of TeleSoft Partners, a venture capital firm.

It was a long-winded battle after that, between two cities and two basketball fan-bases. On April 29, the NBA's Relocation Committee unanimously recommended that the NBA Board of Governors deny the application of the Sacramento Kings to relocate to Seattle. In mid-may the Board of Governors voted down the Seattle relocation bid. And a few days later, the sale of the Kings from the Maloofs to Ranadivé's group was confirmed.

The deal set the team's overall value at $535 million. Ranadive's group would buy the 65 percent share of the Kings controlled by the Maloofs and Hernreich. Ranadivé will sell his minority share with the Warriors before purchasing the Kings. In celebration for this victory, Sacramento held the 'Long Live the Kings' rally last week, where they invited franchise legends, Mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson, as well as the man who had played a major part in saving the team: Vivek Ranadivé.

From his time with the Warriors and through the bidding process with the Kings, Ranadivé has maintained an ongoing philosophy of looking ahead, and using his background with technology as well as his international background to think globally, think digitally. He spoke various times of making the Kings into a 'global brand'.

Via Sacbee.com:

The goal is to create something Ranadive has begun calling "NBA 3.0," which refers to making basketball as popular worldwide as soccer. Much of the focus would be on China, where the NBA is already quite popular, and India, where cricket is considerably more popular.
Basketball "is a sport that lends itself to that," Ranadive said of the globalization effort. "It can be played in cities, it can be played in villages. Rich countries, poor countries - you don't need a lot of space like you do with cricket or soccer."

Ranadivé has also spoken various times of how his Indian heritage has shaped him. He has said that he wants the Kings to have outreach programmes to connect with India and believes that basketball - as a simple enough sport - can be a huge hit in his country of origin.

Sacramento have celebrated their new Indian King for his timely intervention, and what he calls 'one hell of a comeback' in keeping their franchise in their city. And NBA fans in India are of course excited to see one of their own at the helm of an NBA franchise.

But at the end of the day, no matter how the faces in the back-office change or how great their new planned arena turns out to be, basketball games are won by the team on the floor. And the team on the floor that we concern ourselves with here is still the same old Sacramento Kings. The Kings have missed the playoffs for the past seven consecutive seasons and for most of that stretch have been amongst the worst teams in the Western Conference. They finished the most recent season at 28-54 and don't seem to have the pieces to make a push into the playoffs anytime soon in the future either.

About a month ago, I wrote in my NBA.com/India column that, no matter how much 'India' hype that Ranadivé's ownership brings the Kings, India's basketball fanbase won't start truly caring about them until the Kings can create an exciting and winning product. There is no loyalty amongst fans that live thousands of miles away: most NBA fans in India will support whichever team that Kobe or LeBron play for, or whichever team to have been successful/exciting in recent years. The Kings, currently, offer none of the above, and although having an Indian owner will generate some interest initially, it won't buy Ranadivé a long-term fanbase in India.

The Kings are a young, rebuilding squad, and are blessed with a rare inside talent in DeMarcus Cousins to build a franchise around. So far, he has offered the team a mix dose of brilliance and bamboozlement. But the center is still only 22 years old, and can certainly be a valuable piece of a successful franchise for the future. If Cousins can settle down and become the team's anchor, they can worry about their other issues. The Kings have to improve on the defensive end, a change that will have to be passed down through their coach (it's unlikely that Keith Smart will survive too long) to his players. Cousins has to make his game more polished and consistent. The biggest improvement has to come from former Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans (a restricted free agent), who showed that he has the natural ability to be a game-changing guard, but has slowed down drastically since his rookie season. The positive development of other youngsters like Isaiah Thomas, Patrick Patterson, Jimmer Fredette, and Cole Aldrich will shape their future roster. And they have to be smart (and lucky!) to find a gem or two in the NBA draft – a feat much easier said than done! They have the seventh pick this year. Maybe it's not too early to start tanking for the Wiggins/Parker sweepstakes in 2014?

It will take a concentrated improvement on all levels, from personnel on and off the court and in the effort of those currently leading the charge of the squad, to bring the Kings closer to Ranadivé’s ‘global brand’ dream.

But here's a guy who has mastered pretty much everything that has caught his fancy, from ivy league schools to software businesses to martial arts to non-fiction writing. He's a good businessman, and like every good businessman, we expect he will understand what factors he needs to run a profitable business. And when the product is an NBA franchise, those factors are the right players and the right coaching and support staff.

I wish nothing but success to Ranadivé, and will join the unlikely unison of Sacramento and India in rooting for his success with the Kings. Hopefully, his efforts can not only revitalize a once-great team and fan-base, but also help popularize the game further in India. If he can succeed at doing that, then Ranadivé will truly become the Basketball's King to all the new NBA fans back in his homeland.

Another Indian – Naren Gupta – joins Sacramento Kings investors group

Hey, the Sacramento Kings are taking this whole Sacramento Rajas thing a little too seriously now, aren’t they?

Mumbai-born Vivek Ranadivé, current minority owner of the Golden State Warriors, prospective future majority owner of the Sacramento Kings, has added two more investors into the group that is bidding to buy the Kings from the Maloofs and keep them in Sacramento. One of the investors is tech entrepreneur (and former Apple executive) Andy Miller. The other is Naren Gupta, a silicon valley venture capitalist and the co-founder of Indian company Nexus Venture Partners. If their bid is successful, Gupta will join Ranadivé to become the second Indian owner of an NBA franchise.

If you’ve been following the Sacramento-Seattle-via-Mumbai battle closely, you would know that the current owners of the Kings are looking to sell the squad quickly to the best-possible bidder. Until recently, that best bidder came from a tech group in Seattle, a group hoping to carry the franchise out of Sacramento and bring back the Seattle Supersonics. But ever since Ranadivé, Indian tech mogul and the founder of the company TIBCO, joined a group of investors hoping to buy the Kings and keep them in Sacramento, there has been optimism in the California capital that an Indian can help the struggling team stay in the city where they’ve spent the past 28 years.

According to CowbellKingdom.com, Gupta and Miller are joining a group that already includes 24-Hour Fitness Founder Mark Mastrov, the Jacobs Family of wireless tech company Qualcomm, Sacramento developer Mark Friedman and former Facebook executive Chris Kelly.

Gupta also serves on the board of TIBCO. Last September, he spoke to Wall Street Journal on the innovation potential of India, saying, “Indians understand the enterprise space a lot better than the consumer space. I think in the next five years we’ll see a billion-dollar company come out of India.”

With the addition of Miller and particularly Gupta to the group, Ranadivé is continuing to push the ‘global brand’ mission for the Kings, helping the reach of his team reach India and other countries around the world. Ranadivé also has surrounded himself with tech-related investors, and his own technology background will form the major crux of Ranadivé’s plans leading the Kings into the future.

From Sacbee.com:

The goal is to create something Ranadive has begun calling "NBA 3.0," which refers to making basketball as popular worldwide as soccer. Much of the focus would be on China, where the NBA is already quite popular, and India, where cricket is considerably more popular.
Basketball "is a sport that lends itself to that," Ranadive said of the globalization effort. "It can be played in cities, it can be played in villages. Rich countries, poor countries - you don't need a lot of space like you do with cricket or soccer."

The NBA’s Board of Governors meeting will kick off on Wednesday in New York and will help determine the future of the Sacramento Kings.

Indian software tycoon Vivek Ranadivé joins bid to keep Kings in Sacramento

Vivek Ranadivé – the Indian-born software giant and the owner of billion-dollar software company TIBCO – has joined the team bidding to keep the NBA’s Kings in the city of Sacramento. Ranadivé, who currently owns a share of the California neighbours Golden State Warriors, will join a team led by health-club financier Mark Mastrov and billionaire Ron Burkle.

As you may have already heard, the current owners of the Kings – the Maloof Family – are looking to sell the franchise to its highest bidder, and the highest bidder up to this point seemed to be another tech-inspired group from Seattle, led by Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer and Chris Hansen. If their bid is successful, the Kings would move to the city of Seattle and mark the comeback of the Seattle Supersonics, who moved to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder back in 2008.

The Kings have been in Sacramento since 1985-86. A few weeks ago, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the only way the franchise could remain in the city after this season was if Sacramento’s bid was as large as the bid from the Seattle group.

Enter Ranadivé: on Thursday March 21, Ranadivé confirmed that he has joined Burkle and Mastrov to become the third major investor in an attempt to purchase the Kings and keep them in Sacramento. Ranadive extended his support to Sacramento Mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson via Twitter.

"Looking forward to supporting @KJ_MayorJohnson as we work towards keeping the @SacramentoKings where they belong. #HereWeStay" Ranadivé tweeted. "Excited to be a part of the revitalization of a great community and the globalization of an amazing franchise."

Born in Mumbai, Ranadivé – a graduate from MIT and a post-graduate from Harvard – founded software company TIBCO in 1997 and is the company’s CEO. He has also authored two books: The Power of Now (1999), The Power to Predict (2006), and most recently, The Two-Second Advantage (2011). He became co-owner and vice chairman of the Golden State Warriors in 2010, making him the first person of Indian descent to own an NBA franchise. Ranadivé has helped bring Indian flavour to the Warriors as the team has held ‘Bollywood Night’ annually for the past three seasons.

If Ranadivé’s bid to the buy the Kings is successful, he will have to sell his share with the Warriors.

Ranadivé’s role is yet another interesting twist in the ever-growing drama surrounding the future of the Kings. It is yet unclear why Ranadivé will want to give up his growing legacy with the Warriors, with whom he seems to have been a successful owner for the past three years. He has been able to engage with the Oakland Indian community as well as spread the message of basketball to Indians back home. The Warriors are enjoying their best season in over a decade and currently stand at a comfortable sixth place in the Western Conference standings.

It’s an intriguing tug-of-war between West coast cities and basketball teams. Seattle wants the Supersonics back, and Sacramento wants to keep the Kings. And now, the Indian owner of the Golden State Warriors Warriors now wants to own the Kings in Sacramento. DeMarcus Cousins better be worth it.

The NBA’s Board of Governors will make a final decision about the Kings’ possible relocation by mid-April.